


Love's Sacrifices

by GOTFa2



Series: A Haunted World [1]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Ginger Snaps (Movies), Orphan Black (TV), Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Blood Drinking, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Dark Past, Domestic Fluff, Drama, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Foursome - F/F/F/F, Lesbian Sex, Polyamory, Pregnancy, References to Other Works, Smut, Surrogacy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:41:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 33,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25538953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GOTFa2/pseuds/GOTFa2
Summary: Carmilla Karnstein and Laura Hollis are trying for a baby, and find themselves in need of a surrogate. Through mutual friends of theirs, they are introduced to Chloe Beale, who has joined a polyamorous relationship with Beca Mitchell, Aubrey Posen and Stacie Conrad. Due to help raising Stacie's daughter Bella, Chloe wants to know what it's like carrying a baby to term, and agrees to be a surrogate for Carm and Laura, to the great concern of Beca, who due to a past incident, is cautious when it comes to vampires. For nine months, Carmilla and Laura must stay by Chloe's side, and help raise Bella as well to prepare for parenthood. As if a risky pregnancy for a damphir baby wasn't enough, yet another instance of Carmilla's past comes back to haunt her, and threatens all she knows and loves.
Relationships: Benji Applebaum/Emily Junk, Bumper Allen/Fat Amy, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell, Chloe Beale/Stacie Conrad/Beca Mitchell/Aubrey Posen, LaFontaine/Lola Perry, Laura Hollis/Carmilla Karnstein, Stacie Conrad/Aubrey Posen, Wilson Kirsch/Danny Lawrence
Series: A Haunted World [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/682850
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I have been planning for two years, and only now getting around to writing it.
> 
> It is also a sister story to yet another crossover I am writing - that one being between "Vampyr" and "Life is Strange" - but don't expect the two to directly crossover. One of the reasons it took such a long time for me to write both is because of how much I am planning, and the passing of a family member back in December, which threw me off for months.
> 
> Fittingly enough, I got a new addition to my family around the time I got back to writing this story, which is also about pregnancy.
> 
> I plan to work on this story along side my "Vampyr/Life is Strange" crossover, and will update both periodically.
> 
> Side note: I'd say slight canon divergence for the Bechloe tag, had it not been confirmed that Bechloe is Canon by Kay Cannon herself.

**1685** , an unknown county in Austria.

Count Falco Karnstien was not a good man by any definition. By some definitions, he would have been a great man, just not as great as he would have preferred something greater. He was the Count, and by all rights, he ruled a county in the name of an empire. But a better description of him is a very, very naughty boy.

The son of a Duke, Karnstien wished for a little more in life. He believed his life should be one of luxury and power, but nothing in life could prepare him for the responsibilities that power should grant him. His irresponsibility can be best documented at age fifteen, where he impregnated Jana, the daughter of a neighboring Duke on his birthday. This was something he saw as his right. To salvage what they could of the scandal to their families, their parents had the two married.

Each day, Falco would leave the duties of tending to Jana to his family, while he attended a chapel, and prayed. As far as the people were concerned he was praying for repentance, and the health of his wife and child.

In fact, he was asking for freedom.

Then the day came; one winter night, with a soft snow fall, Jana went into labor. She was being tended to by her sister, the midwives, a few servants, and even Falco's own mother and father oversaw her in the birthing bed.

"Where is he ?" Jana pants out, sweat and tears clouding her vision and marring her hair. She was on her bed that Falco had her sleep in for the past nine months.

"Don't worry about him, think for yourself" Her sister Eska said wiping Jana's forehead with a towel. Doing her best not to bring attention to the amount of blood her sister was producing across the bed sheets. She didn't need Jana afraid.

What was especially concerning was the small amount of blood coming from Jana's nose. Eska wasn't confident her sister will live through this, but she couldn't let Jana herself know this, for her own sake and that of the child.

If there was a sliver of a chance that Jana could live through this, she must take it. It was another half hour of crying and screaming bloody murder, a newborn child was cradled by her aunt and mother.

The child's grandfather sent a steward to the chapel to retrieve his son. Falco reluctantly returned home to the birthing room, first making note of the disgusting mess formed on the bed before he paid any heed of his weakening wife, and newborn daughter.

"So...she lives." Falco says stoically.

"Boy..." Falco's father warns before his wife places a hand on his shoulder "Your daughter awaits."

"Daughter." Falco sighs "Of course."

Eska watches on as Jana seems to use whats left of her strength and will to silently sing and coo to her child, simply laying the baby on her chest.

"Mircalla" Jana weakly whispers, "Her name is Mircalla Karnstien."

"Karnstien." Falco thinks to himself. His name. The child has his name, a reminder of his mistakes, and a reminder that this child is not a bastard...not something the can just wash his hands of and dispose of. Something both his parents made clear, was his responsibility; he was going to be saddled with this child, a reminder of weakness, and not someone he could use as an heir. At best, he can give her to some other lord, count or baron when she comes of age.

Those are going to be the longest years of his life.

"Am I expected to hold her ?" Falco turns to his parents.

"Let her have this, son." His father Lucius reprimands him silently.

Jana holds Mircalla to her chest, whispering something in the child's ear.

The child's head is placed right on Jana's heart, listening to it beat. "I heard this one in a dream little one. Perhaps you heard it with me," If she was speaking a little more loudly, it would be heard that Jana was singing even as her breathes faltered.

" _Still, still, still_  
_One can hear the falling snow_  
_For all is hushed_  
_The world is sleeping_  
_Holy Star it's vigil keeping_  
_Still, still, still_  
_One can hear the falling snow_  
_Sleep, sleep, sleep_  
_'Tis the eve of our Saviour's birth_  
_The night is peaceful all around you_  
_Close your eyes_  
_Let sleep surround you_  
_Sleep, sleep, sleep..."_

Jana's voice stopped with the sound of her heart. The only other sound in the room was the cry of the infant, a contrast to Eska's quiet weeping.

After a moment of hesitance, Falco's mother Anna takes Mircalla from her mothers arms. Luckily her body hasn't gone cold. The child was taken to be tended too in a nursing room the Karnstien's set up. Eska takes her sisters hand and weeps into her chest, and Lucius took Falco by the shoulder, preparing to lecture him for...Falco lost count of how much he was lectured about responsibility, both as a future Baron and as a father. It was just background noise.

All Falco could think was, how much would this girl be worth to him, if she were to hinder his life and dreams like this ? What could this child hope to measure up too as she grows ? What would he measure up to as he himself grows ? He was hardly a man yet, and the burden of being a father at a young age was thrown upon his shoulders. And by order of his family, he was to carry that burden for the foreseeable future.

He wanted more in life, and he wasn't going to let this little stick in the mud stand in the way of it.

\----

**1692**

Seven year old Mircalla has grown into a rather rambunctious child. Having spent the better part of her days with her grandparents, aunts and servants, she had a relatively healthy first few years all things considered.

As soon as she started talking, she could never stop. And when she started vocalizing, she tried to learn how to sing. It was rare that anyone could have hear this child singing some random tune to herself, that their heart doesn't immediately get tickled. Her father was the obvious exception.

While her father spent the lot of his time in a study he set up, Mircalla likewise started spending her time in their families library. She was taught to read by her grandmother, who used to read to her many books. Castle Karnstien's library was full of texts from different ages, telling legends from different lands and cultures. If there was one thing her family was proud of, it was the stories her grandfather collected in his youth, which shared enthusiastically with his lover turned wife; they shared them with their son, and now passed them onto their granddaughter.

Sure, she liked stories about princesses, but what intrigued her especially was stories of war and warriors; reading of them filled her with a greater sense of power than stories of damsels in distress, of princesses waiting for their prince; of great heroes such as Beowulf, Arthur and Hercules; she especially liked stories of Amazons, Brunhilda; brave, warrior princesses; Mircalla's personal favorite story was of the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan.

"It's funny that one is your favorite Mircalla," her grandmother, Lena Karnstien, would muse "Your father was always annoyed by her stories. When he was younger, he would try to tell his own version of the story, with Hua Mulan was a man. He never managed to finish it."

Mircalla paid little heed to stories of her fathers failings and embarrassments. She would usually emerge herself into the realm of fantasy or myth, while her fathers use for these books where to disappear into a realm where myth and history blend.

The bulk of Falco's and Mircalla interactions was when they would pass eachother in and out of the library.

Time passed and by the time Mircalla was five, so did both her grandparents, effectively leaving Falco as Count over their county, and Mircalla's only real guardian; her aunt Eska was no longer in the picture, with her family marrying her off to a foreign prince. This only served for Mircalla to further isolate herself and delve further into the realm of fantasy.

This was all well and good for Falco, as this would mean he had more time to focus on his own dreams and ambitions...and occasionally his actual duties as a count.

Curiously, there was a point in time these duties had an actual impact of Mircalla's life; one day on Mircalla's seventh year, she heard the crying of an infant from down her bedroom hall. She saw one of the servant girls tending to a baby boy with dirty blonde hair in what was once her nursery.

"Is that a baby ?" Mircalla asks, catching the servants attention.

''Oh, good morning Mircalla." The servant girl Sophia answers with a sunny smile "This must be a surprise for you; meet Elijah Karnstien."

Sophia picks little Elijah up to present the newborn to the new sister.

"Where did he come from ?" Mircalla asks, nearly at a loss for words. She was one who isolated herself for the most part for the past two years, and even before that she had little to no interaction with any other children. This was all new to her, and for all of it to be just thrown at her at once was quite a rush. She was feeling so much at once, she could barely feel anything at all.

"He came with your father."

"I have a brother ?" Mircalla asks.

"You have a brother."

Mircalla stared at the boy for the bulk of the day, unsure of what to make of him. She was never a baby person, never had that much interaction with other children. The highlights of childhood were spent disappearing into a world of imagination, and as much as she's a quick thinker, she couldn't think of a way to take care her brother.

After looking down at Elijah for several minutes, she finally came up with an idea. Running as fast as her little feet could take her, she scampered to the library, and brought back with her a book that seemed to call to her.

She returned to notice her nanny wasn't attending to her still crying brother, which gave her all the time and space in the world to take Elijah into her own.

So far it seemed to be working, as she lifted the book up over the child's crib, and noticed he stopped crying to look at her curiously. "Hi-i-i-i-i-i," Mircalla says quietly "I'm your sister."

Mircalla reaches down at Elijah, who reaches up with both hands to take hold of Micralla's only hand.

"This is a book!" Mircalla says proudly "They tell you stories, like I'm about to now." Mircalla sits at the side of the crib and begins reading allowed to her quiet and seemingly awestruck brother. "I will proclaim to the world the deeds of Gilgamesh. This was the man to whom all things were known; this was the king who knew the countries of the world. He was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things, he brought us a tale of the days before the flood. He went on a long journey, was weary, worn-out with labour, returning he rested, he engraved on a stone the whole story..."

\----

 **2021** , Toronto, Canada, (Shortly after " _The Carmilla Movie_ ")

"You're really going through with this Chloe ?"

"It's for a good cause." Chloe Beale nods to her girlfriend. They seated together at a doctors office in Toronto; New Dyad, they're calling it. They were to meet their new clients there. Or rather Chloe was; Beca was more reluctant, but Chloe needed support.

"It's more of a benign cause, but Chloe, babe" Beca starts "This is going to be one of the biggest decisions of your life."

"I know. Which is why I'm making it." Chloe turns to look Beca in the eye.

It has been about two or three years after the USO show. Life hasn't exactly taken the Bella's to new places, but it didn't take them that far away from eachother. They had Bella Conrad to thank for that. The daughter to Stacie Conrad proved to be a new kind of glue that kept the Bella's together. Aubrey has been talking to Stacie about becoming a doula and wanted the practice and experience of working with new mothers and newborns and moved in with Stacie for what was intended to be several months, but soon they became life partners.

Every now and then, Bella's other aunts and the occasional uncle would step in. Between them, Aunts Beca and Chloe were the most frequent. This in part had to do with, for lack of a better word, tension that has occurred between the four women; but that was another story for another day. This started what can be described as an on and off polyamorous hookup between Beca, Chloe, as well as Aubrey and Stacie. From such, Beca and Chloe became less Aunts to Bella, and occasionally another set of moms.

When Chloe spent enough time with Bella, combined with Stacie describing the experiences she had during her own pregnancy being largely positive, as well as helping Aubrey do research on being a doula, it awoke a craving in her that could only be satiated by one thing; she wanted to have a baby, but at the same time wasn't sure if she was ready to be a mother on her own. After all the house already was full of five; wait till Bella becomes a more outgoing school girl, at least.

And to be honest, her baby craving had more to do with wanting to know what pregnancy was like.

On the flip side, Chloe observing what Aubrey was researching and what it meant to help parents and newborns, inspired a solution for Chloe's predicament; she wanted to be a surrogate, to help a couple who otherwise couldn't have a child achieve that goal.

It took about a year of planning and thinking, with the cautious support of her three girlfriends that Chloe found the right couple. And while you may call her selfish, Chloe wanted the child to be special; not that any baby isn't special, but she wanted to deliver something more than just a baby, to bring someone and something new into the world and think "Yeah, I helped did that."

And so the right couple entered the room, following behind a blonde doctor who would be overseeing the women and the procedure. One of the women was a little on the short side, had dirty blonde hair and pale tan skin, and was dressed a little more professionally than her partner. One of the women following was tall, pale, wearing darker clothes to match her black hair; it was clear she has a thing for leather.

"...That was still rather rude, honey", the tinier, dirty blonde woman says to her taller partner.

"If I had to wait in a line she has to wait too." The ravenette answers.

"But you didn't have to scare her kid."

"The kid had that woman for a mother, I'd be very surprised if he wasn't already mortified." The taller woman says as she and her partner take their seats opposite of Beca and Chloe "I mean who causes that much drama over a numb foot."

"I saw you cheating and scaring your way through a drivers test by road raging, don't you be taking the high ground here." The smaller woman reprimands her girlfriend, waggling her finger like a stern school teacher. Said girlfriend playfully bites at her finger, before the two notice Beca and Chloe looking at them expectantly.

"Allow me to break the ice," the doctor named Cormier, says. She has a noticeable french accent. "I take it this is the first time we've been in a room together." She gestures to one couple "Chloe Beale, Beca Mitchell" she gestures to the other "Laura Hollis and Carmilla Karnstein. I'll just be going over your tests, and let you get acquainted in the meantime."

Dr. Cormier took her seat at her desk and began reading her notes and the test results as the four other girls spoke among themselves.

"Sorry, my girlfriend insisted on giving a haircut to one of the moms in the waiting room." Laura explains sheepishly.

"In my defense, she was asking for it. Maybe not with those specific words, but that tone of voice." Carmilla waves dismissively.

Chloe reaches her hands to shake both girls hands. "Chloe Beale, we spoke on the computer."

"Yes, we've seen your playlist too." Laura nods.

"Oh no, that was Beca's playlist, I'm just giving her some free promotion." Chloe gestures to Beca who grins sheepishly.

"I see." Laura starts, looking over to Carmilla knowing she's dreading the next question "And I take it you've caught up on my vlog ?"

"Laura, not this again."

"We're caught up," Chloe nods enthusiastically "A lot of people didn't think it was real. But I did."

The year 2016 was considered a big year for a multitude of reasons. One of them being the year that the world acknowledged the supernatural presence within. Had it been the jut the vlog of Laura Hollis showcasing the happenings at Silas, many would had dismissed Silas as an ARG with no more legitimacy or factual evidence behind it than that of Slenderman blogs. In this case, it was also the year werewolves vampires, and other supernaturals made their presence known in rather public ways. Ironically this was considered one of the smaller changes to the world, and not that big an issue to press; it pretty much amounted to " _Ah, so monsters exist. Okay then_." For the most part, there hasn't been a Godzilla level incident (emphasis on, " _for the most part_ ") so its not like there was an ever present threat to the world at hand.

At most, there have been debates with the societal implications of the supernatural living among us and discussions of prejudice, but save for a few country's they haven't gotten any thing like " _True Blood_ ". In some areas, groups of self declared hunters rose to stand up to the vampire/werewolf menace, and are mostly seen as another Hate Group akin to the Klu Klux Klan, the Nazi Party or Westboro Baptist; same noise, different banner, same reception by modern society; hence their nickname "The Skinboys". Of course, such noise was relegated to the states; they were no more a problem in Canada than those aforementioned groups.

One thing that didn't go unnoticed was the threat of Hell on Earth posed by the Summurian Goddess Inanna; especially when the world was saved from said fate by a pair of girlfriends, one of whom being a vampire - said incident was caught on a live broadcast over the internet. This did a lot to grant the supernatural a positive public image, and further marred the reputation of their detractors. Notably, there was a debacle in 2017-2018 were blog/podcast/broadcast asked if it was worth living in a world, if it meant the world was saved by a vampire - a lesbian one at that. Many of their followers agreed Hell on Earth was preferable. Yeah, it was those kind of controversies.

Despite Carmilla and Laura being considered public heroes for this, they do quickly settled for the quiet and more obscure life, already having a mass following on Twitter as it is. Their last notable adventure was a few months back involving the ghosts of Inanna's previous sacrifice victims, including Carmilla's former lover Elle Sheridan. Not as grand scale as their previous escapades, but every now and then Laura would ask others if they saw her vlog; more often than not, this would cause fangirls to freak out upon meeting their hero.

"And what of you small-fry ?" Carmilla asks, glancing at Beca, who was otherwise quiet the whole discussion and staring at Carmilla herself in uncertainty.

"O-oh, well," Beca shook her head to clear her thoughts "It's like Chloe says; she always knew your show was real, before 2016, and the lot of us thought she was just being a-"

"Our friends Jessica and Ashley told me I was being a crazy fangirl." Chloe finished for her.

Beca chuckles and shows a little more of her snark "And yet those two used to fight all the time as to whether or not Laura here should be with Carmilla here, or...what was her name ?"

Laura smiles and answers "Danny, and we'd get that a lot. Not to say it isn't welcome, but at least she's not getting death threats or anything like that anymore."

"Of course not, that titanic body, mixed with vampire powers, I'd say anyone who threatened her are now backing down and apologizing profusely." Carmilla says "I've seen a few call her Mommy so take from that what you will."

This got the four girls to laugh a moment before Laura caught her breath "So, you got me curious. How is it you knew it was all real."

Chloe caught her breath and sighed "I've known for years that the supernatural was real. You see, I was born in Canada and raised here until I turned twelve. Not here as in Toronto," Chloe gestures out the window, noting the city skyline "But this neighboring town called Bailey Downs."

"Ah, that's funny. My girlfriend has a sister who lives in Bailey Downs," Cormier notes, overhearing their discussion. She notices the girls glancing at her before smiling sheepishly "Sorry, go on."

"Anyways," Chloe continues "Until then I've had these neighbors. I never really interacted with them extensively; although I do remember this one make up job their daughters did on me when I was little; they said it was for an art project. I used to watch their oldest daughter when she was in their pool, or sunbathing in their yard. That's how I had my, um, realization by the way."

"Was she a supernatural ?" Carmilla asks inquisitively "I've heard urban legends about that town, especially regarding werewolves."

"I heard those stories too," Chloe nods "And I knew they were real too; after my parents moved to the states, I've been looking at some childhood photos of mine, and sure enough I saw something in the background in one of them, that wasn't a regular wolf. I thought back to those girls disappearing around the same time as animal attacks became prevalent, and it didn't take long for me to put two and two together."

Carmilla makes another glance at Beca, who still stared at her uneasily "And what of you, DJ ? Did you always believe in the supernatural too, or where you a skeptic ?"

Beca shrugs trying to seem casual, although her voice was still uneasy "Let's just say when I found out vampires existed, it put my world in a bit of a spin. I'm sorry, I think I'm still trying to adjust." Beca becomes a little flustered as she laughs "And, uh, let's just say I didn't expect to actually be meeting, you two of all people!"

Laura smiles sweetly "Well, don't worry, you don't have to be so starstruck around us. I mean we did meet through mutual friends."

As it happens, it wasn't that big of a coincidence that Chloe Beale was to reach out to the Hollis Karnstein family (who while had the paper work, haven't gotten to hosting a proper ceremony yet; they had a connection of two of their friends knowing eachother.

About a year after the dust settled in Silas, Wilson Kirsch went on an off the road and spent the summer reconnecting with his family. During his travels, he's had a few "encounters" with one Stacie Conrad, and at the time, there was one in three chances that Kirsch may be Bella's biological father...although it later turned out there was no actual sex between them, and Stacie would later narrow it down to this guy from another university, who she later found out was cheating on his girlfriend with her, and has a few crimes under his belt that she will not tarnish Bella by associating with him.

Point is, when Stacie reached out to Kirsch, even if he's most likely not Bella's father, Kirsch would keep occasional contact with her to catch up. They spoke few weeks, during which they spoke over a mutual issue both Chloe and Laura.

It all started during a Hollis family reunion months back, shortly after the fiasco with Elle; during Laura was re-introduced to her cousins, nieces, nephews, and even new babies in the family. The children especially were awestruck by their favorite aunt and how Aunt Carm was best aunt by virtue of being a vampire. Laura had her hands full and was pro all things considered - contrast this to Carmilla, who was mostly a nervous wreck around the kids. It wasn't until they got a chance to hold the newest addition to the Hollis family; Laura's new nephew Junior, named after his father and grandfather. The description of Carmilla holding and fawning over holding a newborn, and the feeling going through her, is one that can't exactly be put into words.

In the end, Laura's mantra started "Carmilla, I want a baby."

It went on like this for two weeks, and it was clear; Laura had the baby blues. Day in, day out Laura would bring the subject up to Carmilla, who would do her best to dodge the issue. That all said, as the days went by, Laura's puppy dog eyes, moping over baby pictures weared down Carmilla's resolve. It wasn't until that night Carmilla dreamed of holding a baby, and the feeling came back to her, did Carmilla finally agree that she wanted a child of her own too.

Although in retrospect, considering Laura's cheek eating grin when Carmilla woke up the next morning, she'd wager that Laura was whispering in her ear in her sleep. But even then, there was something about holding a newborn, that awoke in the vampire something she thought was dead and buried for centuries.

Point is, they were in this in the long run; they learned of a Doctor - Cormier - who has been working on medical experiments to combat sterility, intermixed with same sex reproduction. While they haven't been able to fix the kinks in the fertility issues, they've figured a way to successfully combine two ovum's to produce an embryo. It was simply a matter of finding volunteers and surrogates; when Laura first heard this, she of course signed her and Carmilla up for procedures, but there was the need to find a surrogate to help carry the baby, on account of "health issues" Laura may have.

It was around that time, Kirsch and Stacie talked to eachother regarding Laura and Chloe's baby blues; and in turn, got Chloe in contact with the couple. From such, the four women where to meet in Toronto, Canada for the proceedings.

Dr. Cormier looks up from the papers as the four other women finish their discussion "And it looks like everything checks out, we can start the operation tomorrow as soon as everything is ready."

"Thank you doctor!" Chloe and Laura say at the same time at the top of their voice, getting up from their seats, barely able to contain their excitement.

Beca wanted to say something along the lines "there's no going back from this," or "are you sure about this" but she couldn't say no to Chloe when she was this far ahead. Besides, she was here to support her girlfriend, so she could only stay by her side, and not let her own fears and concerns get in the way. So instead, she only gets up and hugs Chloe from behind.

"I'm so happy for you babe, I really am." Beca says, adding a kiss to Chloe's cheek.

Laura takes both of Chloe's hands into her own "I can not tell you how thankful I am for you doing this Miss Beale. I don't think there are words I can use-"

"Firstly, you can just call me Chloe, secondly you can just say thank you." Chloe answers her.

Carmilla and Beca exchange another look, letting their more enthusiastic and bubbly girlfriends speak for them.

"I think this'll be the most memorable nine months in our lives."

\-----

The next day, same hospital, different wing.

The operation was done under the direction of Dr. Cormier, and recent medial graduate (as well as Cormier's girlfriend) Dr. Niehaus. Over all it took seven hours and they were the longest hours of Beca's life as she sat by Chole's side, holding her hand nervously and tightly as if she were an expectant parent herself.

The first hour was putting both Carmilla, Laura and Chloe under, and harvesting eggs from Carmilla and Laura; the next five hours were spent carefully splicing the eggs together and creating an embryo. It took seven minutes to place said embryo into Chloe, and another two hours for the three girls to wake up from the surgery and physically recover from being put under.

They made the most of their time discussing their plans on how to go about the pregnancy; specifically the living conditions Carmilla and Laura already live in Toronto, and for the most part, Beca, Chloe and their people are living across California.

"That shouldn't be an issue," Chloe explains from "Our...family unit, is pretty rich ever since Bella-Bo, came into the picture." Chloe says, mentioning Bella by her nickname.

"Courtesy of Aunt Amy," Beca adds in "With how big her trust fund is, she tossed in a few mil for Bella. We're able to buy some places to stay."

"Anywhere close to here ?" Carmilla asks.

"Stacie bought a high end house and a guest house in the Bailey Downs Hills." Chloe nods "In fact, Stacie and Aubrey are taking Bella with them for the time being, just to make sure we get the extra help."

"This Bella, she has to be, two, three years old." Carmilla says curiously and a little teasingly "She does know whats supposed to be living in those woods, does she ? You sure she's going to be safe ?" She gives a teasing smirk. Beca doesn't find it amusing, before Carmilla rectifies "I mean, Cupcake and I will be checking in on you every now all the time. That should be all the protection your own little one needs."

It didn't make Beca feels that much better or quell her concerns, but she accepted it.

Morning sickness was something Carmilla could recover from quickly, considering what she is, but Laura and Chloe where scarcely used to the experiance. As such they had to rely of Beca and Carmilla's assistance to stand and walk when they eventually had to leave the hospital.

The two couples parted ways in the parking lot, Chloe invited them for dinner that night, but Laura insisted they wait until the other three arrive. In the meantime, the two couples decided to make a double date for the night; Laura couldn't wait to show them this restaurant owned by Mark Walberg's brother in the city.

That was an offer Chloe accepted enthusiastically. While Beca wasn't as happy, she did note that Chloe was among the happiest she has ever been; Chloe was like a kid in a candy shop, achieving the prize she's been looking for; she would be the first known surrogate mother to a dampir, for a couple of like minded young women.

Right at this moment, things were looking up.

\----

Unknown detention centre, Europe.

Theo Straka was not a very happy young man to say the least.<

It was one thing to loose his power among the Zeta Omega Mu, but he pretty much lost everything after Silas. He took as many opportunities as he could to make sure he was on top, and now his opportunities brought him down to the bottom. Simply put, siding with Baron Vordenberg, and the goddess Inanna in their respective conquests, the latter of which posed the threat of Hell on Earth. With well documented evidence of his guilt and compliance with these two, he was the only one alive who could answer for them.

Of course Danny Lawrence got off; sure, the media and investigations show her circumstances gave her room to reform herself, but Theo himself knew the real truth - she was a woman, she can be just as guilty as he is and would only get a little sentence. She was also white, Theo thought to himself; that might have given her an edge. Never mind everything the documentation caught. That - as far as Theo himself was concerned - is why he's here and she's out there.

He remember's the humiliation of being receiving the blame before an international court, charging him with "Crimes against humanity" of all things. Look, the world may have almost been consumed by Hell, and maybe he took the side of a goddess to get himself a comfy seat, but those charges are a little much, aren't they ?

If being relegated to a detention centre prisoner wasn't enough, he got himself into solitary confinement after he got a little too touchy feely when a female guard had her own guard down. Women, Theo thought to himself, don't know what they really need and if you give it to them, it's groin attacks and bear spray. It's been so long for Theo too, he couldn't really blame himself for trying.

Theo lost count of how long he was in confinement, which he guesses is pretty much the point. All he had was an annoying light that kept him from sleeping through it, and an annoying silence...

Or so he thought, as he was caught off guard by the sound of an alarm. A security alarm, and gunfire.

Outside his holding cell, the halls and walls were filled with smoke and marked by blood. Dozens of figures, humanoid and dressed heavy black clothes, and skull like masks, were marching through and opening fire upon the guards. The guards would fire back quickly, and were being put down at faster succession. Radio towers stood aflame, and their occupants lie dead and broken on the ground.

One figure in particular, also dressed in black, complete with a hood-like mask, obscuring its face. Unlike its goons, the figure was dressed less to accommodate the weather and gunfire, and more to show it's extravagance. Noticeably, it didn't seem to need weapons or armor, fighting its way through the centre nearly unarmed. It was making it's way to Theo's cell, and left dozens of guards in it's wake - not all of them were dead.

Any one who would get close to this figure would suffer the fate of getting their head or limbs ripped off; throats or eyes bitten out; guts spilling out onto the ground; before they were tossed aside. Just as it made his way to the cell door, one particularly large and brave guard charges this figure down, firing his assault rifle and emptying dozens upon dozens of shells into the figure's head. It collapses to the ground, and the guard stands over it's body, preparing to shoot more until he's sure it's dead.

The figure reaches up and grabs the rifle's business end and pulls it aside. In the process, he rips the guards arm off, with a splintering snap and scream. As it gets up, it grabs hold of the guards body, and continues to make his way to the cell door, and begins slamming the still conscious guard's body repeatedly into said door.

Theo could hear the commotion from inside and backs towards the wall, utterly terrified. His fear ramps up as the the door breaks off its hinges and collapses, along with the larger mans bloody and broken body. "This was almost too easy boys," the figure says glancing over its shoulder, possibly addressing the mooks committing the bloodbath around him. His voice has a notable Austrian accent. It turns its attention to Theo himself "Theo Straka ?"

It takes Theo about a minute to find his voice "Speaking..."

"Your new opportunity at life awaits. My little organization here, is looking for someone with your experience and possible no how." The man in black says, taking off his hood/mask, revealing a face that left Theo speechless "You've seen my face, which means I pretty own you at this point".

The man's face was, for lack of a better description, Orlok or Voldemort esque. It was as if he suffered a disfiguring injury that hasn't really healed, although not for the lack of trying. His eyes were milky, and his nose crooked and broken, with few traces of black hair upon his head. He was a thing from a child's nightmare

"You were there for digging of Silas, you stood by Inanna's side." The disfigured man starts, before Theo interrupts him.

"Look man, I wasn't exactly the brains behind the operation so-"

"But you were quite observant and had the second hand knowledge of how to find the gates. The Skinboys, as common folk call us, could use your assistance in finding them." The man says circling Theo "In return, we can get you the status and power you wished for, and perhaps more."

Theo takes under a minute to think this over before saying "Done, just were are we going first ?"

"Canada, I need a certain someone to know what's coming." The man takes Theo by the shoulder and leads him to the exists, giving orders to his masked followers "Finish off the guards and the other prisoners! We can't afford any witnesses!"

He notices something on the floor; guard reaching for his gun. The man crouches down towards said gun, and aims it towards the guards head and pulling the trigger "Such heroic nonsense."

\----

The man leads Theo into the detention centers yard. The atmosphere is heavy with rain and lightning, and the sky is pitch black "Our ride" the man says, pointing towards an advancing helicopter. As the helicopter lands, Theo and the man board. As it takes off, Theo looks over his shoulder at the detention centre, now aflame. Theo turns back to face the man and says "I didn't get your name."

"You may call me Count Karnstien, and I have a vendetta of my own, you see." The count answers flatly, staring out the window and into the night sky.

The count says silently to himself _"Enjoy your world, Mircalla. When you think you're safe and at ease, I will bathe it in the blood of all who know and love you."_


	2. Meeting Bella

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exactly what it says in the title.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me a while to get to this chapter, admittedly, but that's because writing chapters takes a while. On top of that, I am working back and forth between this story an "Unlife is Strange".
> 
> This one is going to be a Bella Conrad centered chapter, and give us a look at the Poly life of Bella's Squared. I originally wanted to write about the effects of Chloe being pregnant with an damphir, but aside from morning sicknesses, I don't think much would manifest this early on.

**1696**  
"Faster Mircalla, faster!" A four year old dark haired boy laughs. His older sister can't help but laugh along side him.

"Nope, sorry you little kitten, I think Moonlight's legs are going to give out." Mircalla says as she slows their Nonius horse, aptly named Moonlight to a halt. Mircalla thinks back to her grandmothers lesson on horses, and if you break their legs they tend not to heal and would have to be put down.

They have been riding Moonlight for the better part of three hours. From the age of eight, Mircalla has grown accustomed to the animals her family raised, and had a particular liking to riding horseback. She thought when she turned ten she would have practiced enough to not require a partner to ride with. Normally, she embraces a challenge, but that challenge came when her curious brother developed that same fascination with horses, that Mircalla found herself teaching Elijah the same lessons she was taught twice his age.

Mircalla let Moonlight gently trot to a grassy spot in their fields, allowing him to graze as she helped Elijah off their steed and took their spot under a tree.

"Can you finish that story you were telling me ?" Elijah asks.

"Which one ?" Mircalla asks, having read so much books and came up with her own stories. Why she even found obscure books and telling of more famous stories, such as a take of the _Sleeping Beauty_ story told from the witches perspective, Elijah was the first one she told.

She would also tell Elijah stories she made up on her own, some mixed up other fairy tales; specifically, her new stories was about an ogre who saved and fell in love with a princess. Needless to say Mircalla was a rather animated story teller, giving her characters voices and mannerisms, that kept Elijah entertained for hours.

_"...but what was standing in the giant gingerbread man's way, was the kings royal guard. But he wasn't going to let that stop them, because he knew that she needed a hero."_

Mircalla and Elijah always made the best out of their fathers trips. The more Count Falco took his expeditions out of county, the better; especially his recent expeditions to Greece.

  
They think back at the occasions of their life that their father was unfortunately a part of; notably the death of their grandmother the year before, where Elijah made a show of his grief at her funeral and was slapped for it by the Count, who just seemed to want the affair to be over with ("It is unmanlike to have these emotions" the Count would say).

Because of that one instance, Mircalla spent a week at his side trying to console him, telling him her first "orignal" story; basically _Hamlet_ as told by animals in Africa.

Mircalla spent the day telling Elijah an additional three stories of the ogre, promising to save one more for Christmas. As usual, Mircalla likes to add songs to go with her stories - "I cannot help that I am a thespian" she'd say dramatically. By the time Mircalla was finished, the sky was starting to darken, and their servants would seek them out.  
Mircalla calls back Moonlight, a puckered out Elijah on horseback and rides back to their manor.

What didn't please Mircalla was their father awaiting them. Having Elijah taken to his bedroom, he has Mircalla sat down at their dining table to give her some news.

\-----

"You've returned home early." Mircalla notes.

"Don't sound so disappointed."

Mircalla prepares to make a snarky comeback "I wasn't trying to sou-" before Falco glares at her. Falco takes his seat at the head of the table and gestures Mircalla to take her seat beside his "What is it you want of me father ?"

"I want nothing of you daughter, but rather what I need." Falco states, preparing himself a glass of wine before offering his own to Mircalla "Are you aware of the Count Gruber and his family ?"

"I haven't been following word of the other nobles, no ?" Mircalla shakes her head.

"Their song Augustus, is to have his thirteenth birthday in a fortnight. I am sure you're not aware, but the Gruber's own a trading company that has set up land in Mesopotania." Falco explains "I'm planning a business partnership with the Gruber's, something that can get me expeditions to Sumer's remains. So much for me to unearth, so many small steps in my way."

There's a moment of silence before Mircalla breaks it with an awkward "You're aware that I'm not exactly a treasure hunter, right ?"

"No, but you are a bargaining prize." Falco replies flatly. Mircalla was silent, and could not beleive what she was hearing as he went on "Their nest is nearly empty, and now only their son Augustus and daughter Mia remain. I have promised the Gruber's a temporary ward in exchange for their business, and access to their Mesoptainon land."

"So you're sending me and Elijah-" Mircalla starts to ask.

"No, I am sending you. Elijah shall accompany me to Mesopatania, under my protection and mentorship." Falco explains.

"Father, he's only four. He hasn't been out of the county, let alone out of the country. He won't make it without me." Mircalla begins to beg.

"On the contrary, I believe he will thrive. I find he needs more of a masculine influence in his life, and who better than his father?" Mircalla began to think of over a dozen such influences (a few of them from her books and stories) before Falco says "Besides, we can't have him distract your from your duties."

It takes Mircalla about a minute to realize what he's insinuating "You can't expect me too-"

"Do what is expected of you ? What one such as you is expected to do ?" Falco interrupts "I trust you to at the very least fulfill you're duty. It's the least you owe me for allowing you here for this long. I'd say my debt to your mother has been more than paid, it's only fair that your debt to me is to be paid."

Mircalla was struck silent as Falco sighs and walks around her chair

"So just to be clear, for the sake of your family, including that of your brother's, you will live the Gruber's until such a time that our little arrangement can be finalized."

With giving a final word or look, Falco circles the table and disappears into the hallway, leaving Mircalla frozen like a deer in the headlights. Mircalla sits alone, before burying her face into her hands, and later succumbing to sleep.

\-----

**2021, Toronto, Canada, early in the morning.**

"Carm ? Carm ?" Laura's voice snaps Carmilla out of her train of thought.

The two were lying on their couch at their apartment, Laura was already going through baby magazines.

"How do you feel about this swing set ?" Laura asks pointing at a Canadian tire build swing set.

"I feel like it's a little early thinking about that ? The tyke is just an embryo at this point, let him grow for a few years before we risk getting him in trouble." Carmilla notes.

"I'm sorry honey, I'm just so excited," Laura puts the magazine aside "It's just-"

"We're going to be moms!" Laura started to say excitedly, with Carmilla joining in, mimicking Laura's giddy excitment. Although Laura had no reason to suspect that Carmilla was sarcastically imitating her.

"- I know, it's just a lot for me to take in at the moment." Carmilla says with a small chuckle, "It's just, this is new territory for the both of us. It's been, centuries since I've extensively been around kids. I might be a little out of practice."

Laura get's a little curious. While Carmilla has spoken openly about her past with her, it was just enough to give Laura a picture of her life. There were many instances that Carmilla hasn't spoken off, that Laura simply listed as "The Dark Box"; bits of Carmilla's past she hasn't elaborated on, nor would Laura push her too, by virtue of "Mircalla is dead".

Laura heard this from a movie but "Let the past die, kill it if you must". Although she, Carmilla and their friends would argue extensively as to if that was supposed to be the message of the movie, but the fact remains, it was a part of Carmilla's past that she would prefer to stay buried. But whatever Carmilla's past experience with kids peaked her interest.

"Were they the better parts of you life ?" Laura asks, hoping not to press any buttons.

"There was one who was the greatest thing to happen to me at the time." Carmilla gives a sad smile "It was before Inanna you see, and it was some of the happiest moments of my life..." Carmilla sighs "Which is why it hurts me so much to think about."

Laura quickly pulls Carm into a hug, resting the vampires head on her shoulder and kissing her on the temple "We don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to."

Carmilla smiles a little less sad "It's just, this whole baby news...I'm a little out of practice with kids, especially this day and age."

"Beca and Chloe's other girls are on their way tomorrow. We've been invited to their house in the hills." Laura notes "They're bringing their little girl."

"Ah yes, a cabin in the woods type of deal. A woods supposedly inhabited by werewolves." Carmilla nods, with a bit of deadpan in her voice.

"I mean, even if that's the case, clearly the people living in the area aren't too bothered by them." Laura adds, before their phone goes off. Checking their messages, they see they're getting a skype call.

Answering their call, they see they are greeted by Lola Perry and LaFontaine "Howdy, partners!" LaFontaine answers, a little buzzed "I- I've heard the good news! A little resentful that you two didn't go to me first, but you made us aunts!"

"You'll have to excuse them," Perry jabs her thumb "They're still celebrating."

"I've been happy drinking all night," LaFontaine nods "I've been saving the good stuff for a good enough cause...I just wish we were the ones who'd help make it happen."

"Laf, we've been over this-"

"All I'm saying is you would have been a great surrogate," LaFontaine cheekily grins.

"I'm sorry, but I just don't have the patience to carry a baby." Lola dismisses for what had to be the twelfth time that day.

"You fought off a fey queen and survived being possessed by a Babylonian god."

"Summarian." Lola, Laura, and Carmilla correct at the same time, in a deadpan tone.

"All I'm saying is that motherhood is only slightly less scary."

"And the fairy queen alone was too much for me. Besides isn't carrying a damphir a little risk-" Lola stops herself before turning towards Carmilla and Laura "Sooo, what's she like ? The surrogate I mean."

"Miss Beale is just," Laura thinks to herself "She's just the cutest. Real angel, really."

"Her girlfriends not to bad, but I think she was afraid of me." Carmilla teases.

"Don't take it personally, a lot of people still aren't used to vampires." Lafontaine adds.

"Maybe she's just starstruck herself." Laura nods "Speaking of girlfriends, Chloe and Beca have another set. They'll be in the country by tonight, they've got this house in the Bailey Downs hills, and they'll be bringing their little girl with them. Carmilla and I may be staying with them, just to get the experiance."

"Oh, that's so sweet. Isn't she the one-?" Lola starts to ask.

"No, it's not Kirsh's daughter, or at least Beca and Chloe say it's most likely this different guy- it's not that important." Laura shakes her head "But, they're, y'know, friends, with Kirsh I mean."

"Ah, well, wish we could be there with you guys," LaFontaine starts "But something came up at work. Our Ottawa offices you see, so we may be out of your hair for a while."  
Lola perks up "We'll try to be there by the next weekend. Until then, we'll skype call you and I want to see whatever pics or videos you make of Carmilla with their little one."  
Carmilla gasps in exasperation, getting a laugh from Laura "Goddammit! I keep telling you three that's a one time thing! I don't act that way around babies!"

"Right. Well, we'll put that to the test when we visit their house." Laura teases before turning their attention to their friends "Well talk to you later. Love you!" Laura waves as she's about to turn off the call.

Lola and LaFontaine wave with a friendly "Love you too!" before the call ends.

Laura then looks at Carmilla rather cheerfully.

"What ?" The vampire asks in exasperation.

"A trip to Marine Land says you won't make it to midnight without so much as a coo towards the baby." Laura pokes Carmilla on the nose.

"I don't know what spell you're niece put on me, but I am not like that." Carmilla crosses her arms with a mock puff.

"Right, and I'm sure you will refrains from trying to eat her feet." Laura gets into Carmilla's face with another coy smile.

"That's not me. That was that little witch." Carmilla vehemently insists "I may get a little motherly now and then, but I will never go goo goo gaga, so long as this is working right" Carmilla says poking her cranium "You forget, life was full of partying, rebelling against an evil mother. Decades ago, I got into a little bit of magic and mischief, and when I was feeling especially self indulgent...I may have had a role in a few orgies."

This caught Laura off guard "Orgies ?"

"Relax, cupcake. That wasn't since '98." Carmilla gives a coy smile and wink of her own " My point is, if it's going to take nine months for me to get in any other mood, don't expect and instant change. Now, about that swing set you were looking at..."

\-----

Later in the afternoon.

In the Greater Toronto Area, a White SUV makes it way down a highway. Two women, Stacie Conrad and Aubrey Posen, are in the front seat, Aubrey at the drivers wheel.  
In the back seat, sits a three year old girl with shoulder length light bruntette hair. She wears a white dress under a little denim coat, and purple sandles on her feet. This is Bella Conrad. She is kicking the hair playfully, while she plays on her iPad. She was one who usually watches _Forzen_ or _Tangled_ , but at the moment she was having a skype call with Beca Mitchell.

"Can you see the tower from there, Bella ?" Beca coos from her end "It's literally one of the tallest in the world!"

"Is it a castle?" Bella asks, remembering how the city would host an Expo, and the pictures her mom's shown her of Princess Cosplayers.

"Uh, no." Beca laughs a little "But we probably should go when its expo time. We can go in our DC Girls outfits- Oh, that remind me, did you bring your Raven outfit ?"

Bella nods. Stacie looks over her seat and addresses her daughter "Ask about the vampire."

"Did you see the vampire ?" Bella asks "The bat woman" this time waving her hand around, making little screech noises, which causes Aubrey and Stacie to smiles and faun from the front seat.

Beca flushes a little "Uh, no, her girlfriend says she's a cat."

Bella starts petting her hair making little (and very convincing) "meow" noises, already making up her mind for what she'll do when she meets the vampire lady.

"How's Chloe ?" Aubrey asks from the driver's seat, loud enough for Beca to hear.

"Well, we went out for a bite last night-" Beca starts, before Bella interrupts.

"She bites ? Did you see her vampire teeth ?" Bella asks, pulling a lip back to show her own teeth.

"No, it's not like that." Beca answers "Okay, first thing you need to know is that Mark Walberg's family has a restaurant in the city. We went there last night, kind of as a double date, and now Chloe-"

Before Beca can finish her sentence, she is interrupted by the loud noise of Chole's morning sickness from the other room.

"-I don't think the food is agreeing with her at the moment." Beca cautiously gets up, and walks towards the bathroom and flinches away at the sight "Yeah, you may need to use the upstairs bathroom for a while."

"Keep the camera off me! I'm not in my makeup!" Chloe says from off camera.

"Okay, I gotta tend to Chloe to a while, we'll see you when you get here!" Beca waves at Bella "Bye, hugs and kisses!"

"Hugs and kisses!" Stacie and Aubrey shout from the front seat, making sure Beca and Chloe could hear them.

"Huggie kissie!" Bella said cutely, kissing the screen of her tablet.

"Hugs and k-BLAA-" Chloe could be heard shouting off camera before she starting retching, just as Beca ends her call.

"So you excited for Mama Chloe ?" Stacie asks Bella from the front seat "She's going to be having a baby too."

Bella is barely paying attention, turning on a FNAF game on her tablet "No, I wanna go McDonalds."

Stacie rolls her eyes at this; she was the health freak of the four, and would make a point to avoid eating fast food or too many sugary treats if she could help it. And out of them was the chef of their families unit; sometime Aubrey or Chloe would try to cook, but Stacie had this artistic eye for details the others lacked, developing something of a passion for the craft. Chances are if Bella was going to eat fast food, they'd be reworked and re-prepared through Stacie's techniques at home.

"I'll fix you up something when we get to the house." Stacie nods.

"A baby, Bella!" Aubrey said in a faux enthusiastic tone, clearly trying to get her excited "Chloe's going to have a baby for another couple, and we're going to be taking care of her. It'll be like you're a big sister!"

Bella looks up from the tablet, still barely paying attention "I'm a big sista? I'm I big girl!"

"You're getting to be a big girl, but you're still growing." Stacie nods.

"Mommy, can we go McDonalds ?" Bella says changing the subject.

"Uh, no honey. We'll be having supper when we get to the house."

"You're not going to be scared of the vampire lady are you ?" Aubrey asks uneasily.

Bella shakes her head, getting bac to playing with her tablet "No, I'm scared of animal robots...and purple people...and, and, and, I'm hungry."

"I know Bella, we're almost there." Stacie reassures. Stacie reaches forward to turn on the radio "In the meantime, let's see if we can pass the time faster."

Stacie adjusts the radios settings, putting on the family's "Roadtrip Mix". Usually Beca and Chloe would be providing back up vocals when these songs came on, but for now Stacie and Aubrey would have to make due, as Bella tries to sing along with them (something that she has been trying to do since before she could form actual words).

Stacie and Aubrey began to sing softly, building up memento along with the voice playing from the mix. It was a remix made by Beca for their phones; it was of Tracy Chapman and Elizabeth Gilles singing the same song.

It was of course, Fast Cars, which Bella of course, had trouble singing along with.

Both Stacie and Aubrey had to maintain their composure as Bella began kicking the air and swinging her head to the beat. Aubrey noticed the GPS telling her she had to hang a left into Bailey Downs County.

At that point they have reached a forested area. No traffic to worry about, but they ironically had to pull slower as they road on the trail. Specifically Aubrey noted the signs to keep an eye out for black bears.

While Aubrey was occupied with the driving, Stacie turned to look over her seat to sing with her daughter, who has all but discarded her tablet.

Aubrey turned up the trail, towards a road on a hill. As they drove higher, they could see the trees clearing, and could see the skyline two large towns in the distance to the east, and Toronto farther in the South East.

Reaching a clear area, Aubrey saw their destination and pulled forward, joining in on the last chorus.

\-----  
Pulling up to the gated residents, one could see that the Beale-Conrad-Mitchell-Posen house is not a cheap buy. Paid for by the "Bella Conrad trust fund" to accommodate the families travel and living conditions. The Hills was something of a gated community, consisting of otherwise isolated houses and cabins in the wooded areas. You could go days without having to interact with the neighbors here.

Their residence was a twenty seven acre spot of land, it came with a panoramic view of the Bailey Downs County, with Toronto an hour a half drive away, just barely viable over the horizon.

The house itself was a high end house, built in the style of Spanish Renaissance with a twelve foot protective wall around the property; a two floor building, and a terrace outside which connects the driveway, garage, and the backyard deck, with a built in swimming pool and sauna.

At the edge of the property is a smaller, one story building, with it's own deck and slide in doors. This is their guest house, a staple of the poly group's living conditions, usually for the purposes of private time.

The three enter the house, taking in the sight.

"No expenses paid I see," Aubrey notes.

"Nothing but the best for my four favorite girls." Stacie replies

The interior has a large living area with a kitchen/dining room to the west and stairs to the bedrooms to the east. Up the stairs, there is three bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs, however, and one downstairs.

Bella immediately took off at the sight of Beca and Chloe cuddling on the couch.

"Beca-Chloe!" Bella tried to say their name together as she climbed up on the couch, immediately being pulled into Beca's bear hug.

"There she is, the little star of the hour."

Bella released from Beca and climbed onto Chloe for an even bigger bear hug.

"Easy now, still a little queezy from this morning." Chloe groans at how strong Bella's grip is. Chloe sits Bella down on the couch and puts Bella's hand on her stomach "Bella, do you know what's in here ?"

"Uhhh...guts ?" Bella replies.

"No...it's a baby." Chloe laughs. The other three couldn't help but beam at Bella's look of realization.

"No. Babies are bumps. Babies-babies make you fat!" Bella says, spreading her arms wide to empathize her point.

This gets a laugh from the four of them, before Stacie mockingly admonishes her daughter "Bella, what did I teach you about body shaming ?"

"But- but mommy, she's not big!" Bella looks between the other women, confused as to why their smiling at her.

"Well, it's going to take time for the baby to grow. It's like you have to wait a while between Halloween." Chloe explains "And guess what, the babies has two mommies of it's own."

"You and Beca ?" Bella asks.

"No," Chloe shakes her head "See the babies other mommy's can't carry it on their own. So they asked me to help the. They're going to be staying with us to help."

"Like..." Bella couldn't finish her question, so she just pointed at the other women in the room.

"Exactly. Now, you should probably know that one of them is a vampire-" Beca starts.

"Bluh bluh bluh!" Bella imitates a cartoons "vampire noises" while showing her teeth.

"I don't think she's going to get scared." Aubrey says reassuringly.

Beca quickly realizes something "By the way Bella-Bo, we got something to show you upstairs!"

Beca quickly scoops Bella up, as the four girls walk her towards and up the stairs. Bella would cutely count each step they went up.

Upstairs, there are three bedrooms, and one bathroom in the immediate hallway. Beca and Chloe led them to one bedroom in particular.

"So Belles..." Chloe asks as she opens a bedroom door "How'd you like it ?"

Bella Conrad's bedroom is a twelve by twelves space, including a walk in closet; clothes drawer, a toy chest and two different stands; one stand has a small TV, and a DVD player with a built in VCR; the other was a book shelf.

On the south side of the bedroom, Bella had a large window, giving a clear view over the horizon; she could see the Toronto city lights from this distance late into the night. On the east side, there was a mini fridge.

The walls were painted a dark violet blue, and the bed was a casual size with white sheets and blanket. When Bella was put down, she immediately ran towards the bed and collapsed onto it, laughing happily as she rolled back in forth over the covers.

"I think she likes it," Stacie remarks.

"I have my own fridge!" Bella exclaims.

"Yeah, see, ?" Becca answers, going up to the mini fridge and opening it "It's so that you don't have to hide your sneak treats under the pillow..." Beca teasingly whispers.

"Speaking of," Aubrey starts "What have we got downstairs ?"

Beca and Chloe glance at eachother in realization.

"Uh...we didn't pick anything up today. We'd thought we take the day to relax and settle in after the night before, especially with you on the way and all?" Chloe meekly explains.

"What ?!" Aubrey and Stacie reply at the same time.

"Well, we didn't expect you to show up until later tonight," Beca starts "I thought we'd go shopping together tomorrow."

"We're going to have guests tonight!" Aubrey says in exasperation.

"Well, we picked up snacks, just need Stacie's eye for cooking details to-"

"What did you pick up exactly ?" Stacie eyed suspiciously.

Chloe bashfully frowns "We stocked up on frozen pizza and McDonalds in the fridge. We didn't know how long you'd be, so we thought Why not ?"

Upon hearing this, Bella's ears and head perks up "McDonalds!" Something she's been having a craving for the whole car ride. FNAF games made her hungry, and instilled a taste for Pizza and Fast Food whenever she'd play them, and now her two other mommies just picked up both.

Stacie rolls her eyes at her daughters enthusiasm "Very well, I'll see what I can salvage from this," She walks up to Bella and picks her up "But for now, we have to relax. We had a long day on the road."

\-----  
It was at 5:50 PM when Carmilla and Laura's black honda, made it's way up the Bailey Downs Hill.

The wooded era was thic, and had it not been for the trail, they could easily get lost and end up at the wrong house. In fact, it's happened twice already.  
Carmilla was quietly singing to herself, as she looked around the woods, keeping her eyes out for black bears "...I see earthquakes and lightning/I see, bad times today,"

Laura in the meantime was on the speaker phone, talking to Beca as she followed her directions.

By the time they saw the girls house, they noticed Beca standing outside the gate waving them forward. As they pull up, Laura rolls their window down to address Beca.

"It's about time you got here. Mosquitos are really acting up." Beca starts, scratching her arm to empathize her point.

"Sorry, we aren't that used to the area." Laura sheepishly blushes.

After parking the honda, the three girls ae their way to the front door. A mosquito lands on Beca's neck, prompting her to swats it with an annoyed "Fucking little bloodsuckers!"  
With that Carmilla stops in her tracks and stares daggers at Beca "What did you say ?"

Laura sensed Carmilla was about to blow a gasket as Beca looks nervously at the vampire.

"Was it something I said?" Beca asks nervously.

"You think that just because I'm technically not alive, I cannot feel ?" Carmilla says dramatically "That because of my past, that I'm not exactly proud of, that you can use that word all willy nilly ?" Carmilla looks more angry as she advances on Beca backing her into the wall "Words have meaning, and that meaning is to dehumanize my people. It's 2020, I thought we were past this!"

Beca and Laura both look absolutely mortified, and while Laura knew what Carmilla was pulling, Beca was somewhere between scared and a little turned on by how Carmilla looked when angry "Kind of like Katerina" she thinks to herself.

Suddenly a smirk forms on Carmilla's and the vampire burst into uncontrollable laughter "I really got you didn't I ?" Carmilla playfully punches Beca on the arm "Relax, that word doesn't mean nothing. No more than dyke; we embrace it."

"Yup, just like Katerina," Beca mutters.

"What was that ?" Laura asks.

"Uh, nothing. Nothing." Beca shook her head "The uh, the girls are waiting for us inside."

"Well, I suggest we don't keep em waiting." Laura nods, following Beca's lead.

Carmilla continues to smirk "Right, I'm so hungry that I could eat a whole moose. Might just do that later tonight."

\-----

Beca opens the door and leads them in "Honies, we're home!"

They were first greeted with the sound of Stacie's voice calling back "Honey, I'm in the kitchen!" Stacie walks out from around the corner and to the doorway, greeting Beca with a kiss on both cheeks "The other are in the living room, I just got to check the pizzas."

"Pizza ?" Laura raises and eyebrow.

"It's all we could pick up today besides McDonalds." Beca shrugs "We gotta make do with what we got."

Stacie finally addresses the other two women "And you must be the lucky expectant pair." She greets Laura and Carmilla with a handshake "Name's Stacie Conrad, I think we talked once on the phone."

"Kirsche's ex, right ?" Laura questions.

Stacie confidently shrugs "I mean, I've had like three Wilson's in the past, but he's the only one who stayed in contact." She then has a look of realization "Oh, will he be coming too ?"

"Not tonight." Laura shakes her head "Something came up at work...in Ottawa. He and our friend Danny will have their hands full for a few days. They should be stopping in later in the week."

Stacie nods and smiles "Well then, we can't keep the others waiting."

Stacie and Beca lead the other two to the living room, were they find Chloe and Aubrey snuggled on a couch with Bella. Bella was preoccupied with talking to the baby in Chloe's tummy.

Upon seeing them, Chloe gently waves them over "Hey there! Bella's just getting acquainted with her new friend."

"Aw," Laura beams "I can already tell they're going to be great friends."

Carmilla exchanges a look with Laura, telling her that "no" she isn't going to lose her composure around Bella and that the toddler will not have the same affect on her as a newborn. Laura's look says "You wanna bet on it ?"

Laura is the first to walk up to Bella and crouch down to her "Hello Bella. My name is Laura! Do you know who I am ?"

"You just say Laura." The three year old mumbled, prompting a laugh from the other six girls.

"I guess I did. I- I mean, we are the ladies who Miss Chloe is having a baby for. We just wanted to stop in, thank her, and your family for helping us."

"You welcome." Bella replies, smiling cutely.

"Bella, these nice ladies are going to be staying with us for a while." Chloe introduces "Since we're helping them with their baby, they're going to be helping us around the house."

"How'd you like that Belles ?" Aubrey coos "We're going to have friends living with us while we stay here!"

Bella glances at Carmilla and asks the first thing that comes to mind "Are you the vampire ?"

Carmilla is flustered by how innocently she asked and chuckles a little "As a matter of fact, I am." She answers as she walks up to and crouches down to look Bella in the eye "I take it this is the first time you've seen...someone like me ?"

"No, I've seen hundreds of girls." Bella shakes her head.

Carmilla glances over her shoulder. Stacie looked trusting and friendly, surprisingly enough, but Beca had a bit of cautious paranoia in her, and was holding herself back from something. Carmilla had a sneaking suspicion that these were Mama Bear types, and would learn more about it over their later discussions that night. There was an instance a while back that Bella was chased up a jungle gym at a park by an angry dog; said dog learned just how scary an angry Military Brat like Aubrey could be.

Caught off guard, Carmilla froze as she felt Bella's little hands and fingers brush through her long dark hair.

"So," Bella starts "Chloe say you like a giant black kitty." Bella continues petting Carmilla's hair and cautiously asks "You like ?"

"I...normally don't let others just do that," Carmilla says awkwardly.

"You ticklish ?" Bella asks.

Suddenly it was the other four girls turn to get flustered; way back when, they found out Bella overheard chit chat about two of them being ticklish. Since then Bella has made numerous attempts to tickle the four to get a rise out of them. It started out cute and funny, but after a while it became annoying.

Laura was in a more humorous mood, and lined up next to Bella to guide her hair "She likes it when you brush the hair out of her eyes. But you have to understand, she isn't a kitty all the time."

Laura joined Bella in stroking the hair of a flustered and nervous Carmilla, who kept looking at the other girls for help. Unfortunately, everyone else found this cute and wondered where this was going.

" _Oh no_ ," Carmilla thought to herself " _Once again, a witch has me under a spell! I can't be feeling the warm fuzzies just yet. Even worse, I'm outnumbered!_ "

Carmilla was internally panicking, mortified at the prospect of gushing and fawning over a toddler in front of this many people. Outwardly, Carmilla was starting to flush and struggled not to smile.

And unfortunately, all the vampire strength in the world could not stop her from purring.

And that noise only made Bella giggle, as she dug her hands into Carmilla's hair and really went to town on her; ruffing her hair up, tickling her ears and giggling up a storm.

Bella stopped when she noticed Carmilla was shaking, blushing like a tomato while wriggling about a bit like she was tickled. “S-sorry! I heard you purring and couldn’t help myself.” she apologized cutely, putting her hands behind her back and hanging her head in embarrassment.

“That’s fine cuti- I mean kiddo. I'm alright, and it's just I don't often get this kind of reaction from kids.” She explained, taking a seat in a cross legged position in front of Bella, keeping a friendly smile on her face.

Bella circled the vampire around, looking at her curiously. This was the longest Carmilla had to interact with a child. So far Bella is having an effect on her, the distinct urge to grab her little body and nuzzle her like she were a kitten. Smother her with hugs and kisses, with the resilience of a python. She simply found this girl far too adorable to not want to do that.

But Carmilla had to restrain herself. She was a calm, aloof, stoic, dark vampriess and the rebellious adoptive daughter of Inanna. She doesn't do cute, even if she is an expectant mother. She was not going to loose control around babies, if it meant Laura wouldn't take pictures of this incident.

Bella finally looked at Carmilla in the eyes like she couldn't believe she was asking this.

“H-hey,.since you're a vampire and my name is B-Bella, I've been wanting to read this vampire book about a girl named Bella. If you're going to stay with us, and if we can be friends, c-can you read the book with me for beddy time…?” The toddler asked so innocently and full of child-like curiosity that Carmilla stares blankly for a few long awkward seconds.

Slowly, not taking her eyes off the toddler, Carmilla rose to her feet. As she did so, she reached out to Bella and picked her up by the waist. She lifted Bella up to eye level and made the Conrad girl face her. A beat red color was quickly forming on Carmilla's face, and at the last second, her calms smile gave way to a gushing squee.

"THAT TEARS IT! COME HERE YOU CUTE LITTLE KITTEN!’ Carmilla squeals, pulling an Bella into her chest as she hugged the toddler like she would die without her.

Bella in the meantime, was flustered and found herself mumbling incoherently, kicking her little legs in the air while she struggled to breath.

“YOU! ARE!! TOO!!! CUUUUTE!!!!~” She squealed loudly and blushed up a storm while hugging Bella's squirming little form into her chest. Carmilla keep swaying back and forth muttering incoherent words (mostly variations of kitty or kitten).

Eventually Carmilla dropped onto her back, rolling back in forth as she pretty much lost all sense of dignity with Bella, stopped struggling and just accepted her place, that is until Carmilla finally pulled her off allowing her to shakily stand on her feet once she was freed.

“H-Hey, I’m not cute! I’m a big girl!” Bella crossed her arms, puffing out her chest "Just not big enough yet."

"Don't worry, she was like that with my niece too." Laura says sweetly, having recorded this instance on her phone. Carmilla was still coming down from her overload, only then realized what she just did, and flushed down to the floor, burying her face in total embarrassment.

"So it looks like someone passed the Bella test," Stacie walks up to Bella and pick her up "See, she wasn't so scary was she ?"

"Are you alright honey ?" Beca says, after momentarily blacking out at what she has just witnessed, taking Bella from Stacie's arms.

"Yeah, I have to go potty." Bella mumbles. Beca chuckles softly at this.

"Alrighty, well we can't have you go in front of our guests." Beca sets Bella down and holds her hand as she walks her up the hall.

\-----

Later that same evening, the dining room table was sat upon by seven girls, dining on a dish Stacie conducted from freshly cooked pizzas and re-heated McDonald's leftovers.

As usual, Stacie somehow made it work.

The evening was spent with the four Fromer Barden Bellas getting acquainted with Carm and Laura.

Chloe elaborated more on her childhood in the area and urban legends she grew up with; Stacie talked at length of how she's planning on getting back into school when Bella starts going to school; Aubrey about her past as a military brat and her studies in working with children; Beca was mostly quiet, eyeing Carmilla cautiously as she was reminded of that french girl she met in high school...and how that turned out.

Carmilla and Laura didn't know exactly what to talk about, after all these girls have seen Laura's uploaded videos.

Really it was a matter of catching up on what they've been up to the past few years; and example of this would be the scientific research LaFontaine has been getting up to; or Danny's working for goverment agencies looking into matters of the supernatural. Krisch would often work with Danny as a freelance agent.

Of course this meant narrowly avoiding the details of why Kirsch, and Danny won't be with them that evening.

To keep things short, Danny has been running an operation in Ottawa for the past few months. She has been working with an agency investigating "Inanna Loyalists"; a list of people, students and staff of Silas who threw their lot in with Inanna during her attempts to open the gates of Hell.

As two people who worked directly with Inanna (albeit against their actual will), Danny and Kirsch were involved in the investigation, for their in depth knowledge of what Inanna has done and who her loyalists are.

The Inanna Loyalists also include members of Corvae, which not so coincidentally are in the midst of a corporate warfare with Lola and LaFontaine's businesses; which most likely have had to do with the fact Danny gave them a USB drive to take care of. As of the night before there has been a cyber attack on their computers, and now it's a matter of data retrevial; especially when said drive contains the names and information of the loyalists, the criminal groups they have since become involved with, and forged documents regarding missing weapons shipments by the Corvae Coperation.

Laura has been following the story and is planning on reporting it on her blog, but only when she gets as much information as possible.

Simply put, it's not something to be brought up at the dinner table, unless you like your lives being thrown into a political thriller.

Eventually, Beca was the one to break the awkwardness "So Fan-Expo huh, you guys ever been ?"

"Not in a while, but we're looking forward to it." Laura says.

"It's not for a few months." Carmilla adds.

"I like to plan ahead. Looking for things to do in this city, places to visit, y'know ?" Beca takes a drink.

"Our lifes aren't exactly normal..." Carmilla notes "Just a few months ago, we had to clear out Lopphi's offspring."

This caused the girls to pause and stare at her.

"You had to have been there, but you probably wouldn't want to be." Carmilla adds rather sheepishly.

"So, back to the Fan-Expo" Beca starts to once again break the awkwardness "Have you've ever gone cosplaying ?"

"As a matter of fact, we have; I go as a snarky sullen vampire with a buried heart of gold; Laura is the tiny blonde gay with a heart the size of the universe." Carmilla answers.

"Ah, that sounds interesting," Aubrey nods "We're thinking of going as DC Girls ourselves."

"Beca here, will be going as Lena Luthor," Chloe jabs a thumb at Beca "Since she's the one whose running a business of her own."

"Lena ? That's funny, that was my grandmothers name." Carmilla says.

"Your grandma is Lena ?" Bella pipes up "You a Luthor ?"

"Are you trying to be absurdly cute on purpose ?" Carmilla asks Bella back.

Bella form a comically large smile on her face and gives an exaggerated "Yes!"

Now it's Laura's turn to address Carmilla "Lena, huh ? This is the first I'm hearing about it."

"Well," Carmilla shrugs "My human life and family is something I put in my buried past."

\-----

Later on, Chloe's sickness started acting up again, and she excused herself to the bathroom. Since Beca was the designated "bathroom buddy", she found herself rubbing Chloe's back, while the latter was hugging a toilet, a bottle of water at the ready.

"Becs ?"

"Yes, hon ?"

"You think surrogates are allowed to suggest names ?" Chloe asks.

"I think they'd have to run it by the parents. Why ?"

"I had this name on my mind lately; I think you had it too, I heard you mumbling it last night." Chloe says.

"What is it ?" Beca asks a little uneasy.

"I've been thinking of Katrina all day," Chloe nods.

This causes Beca to freeze like a deer in the headlights, as Chloe continues.

"You've been saying it all of last night. Does is mean anything to you ?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally wanted to include more of the Silas Gang or Bellas in this chapter, as well as the stories antagonists but I didn't have much to chew on at the time. The chapter is long enough as is.


	3. Investigations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the third chapter. Sorry I couldn't get to it fast enough. Had a family tragedy recently, mixed with my work on other crossover work on "Unlife is Strange", which mixes "Life is Strange", "Vampyr" and indirectly, "Until Dawn". I recommend checking that story out as well. The first four chapters are up
> 
> Speaking of indirect crossovers, I should probably note that while this story includes a sort of indirect crossover with "Ginger Snaps", I am planning a proper "Ginger Snaps" story, that will also be a crossover with "The Craft" and "Jennifer's Body". It may end up being a prequel to this one, but it's still in the planning stages.

**September, 2009**

"Excuse me ? Excuse me."

It's happened again.

Beca Mitchell fell asleep in class, and looking at the clock, before class even started!

That's gotta be a record.

Though who could blame her ? Haddonfield, Illinois has been getting really rainy and dreary; maybe it has something to do with the time of year. On top of her parents divorce being finalized earlier this year, and Beca spent the lot of her time trying to keep herself busy. She worked weekends as a waitress at a local diner, which also covered her summer job.

For the most part, she was staying in Haddonfield, while her dad was out of town. He was off work after the divorce and was planning a transfer which may entail moving, but as he says "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

To keep things short, lately she's been slowing down, losing focus. And the weather didn't help.

At the moment, someone had her attention.

This girl, could best be described as those manic pixie dreamgirls you see in movies; short cut hair, a cute round little face, dressed like she was raised in a jazz club. Her hair was platinum blonde. She was otherwise pale, save for the blue/purpish makeup she wore on her eyes, the blush on her cheeks and lipstick.

"Are you gonna keep gawking at me ? Or do you have a voice little belle ?" A French or Baulgin sounding voice asks her.

To her embarrassment Bcca noticed a small amount of drool going down her chin, which she quickly wipes off. "It's Beca, actually."

"Katrina, although you sure look like a Belle to me." The girl introduces "I was going to ask if anyone's taking the seat beside you ?"

"Uhh...no, the usual student Carlos has been out of class for a few days."

"Well, good thing this Carlos is not here." Katrina flutters her eyes as she takes her seat.

"His grandma passed over the weekend, and he's taking some time off." Becca states.

Katerina's smile doesn't fade, but the look in her eyes read "Oh, fuck my life."

"That's awkward..." She says "You must excuse me, I'm new."

From then class resumed, as their teacher entered, took attendance and started todays lesson on the Civil War.

\----

Becca Mitchell spent the day going through her normal schedule. History first, chemistry second.

She normally tended to spend lunch hour alone, just disappear in the "isolated" world of her MP3. She's yet to get a phone, but it's on her Christmas list. Unfortunately, thoughts of Christmas brought thoughts of...something else.

She found herself trying to pay attention to B.O.B's " _Airplanes_ ", but found herself distracted; sitting clear across from her from the other side of the café, was non other than Katrina.

"Don't pay her no mind, Becs" she thinks to herself, trying to focus on her hamburger for lunch. "She's just a new girl, trying to go about her day, the same as you."  
And yet that girl was smiling her intensely, and Beca could have sworn she saw Katrina wink at her, when Beca tried to low key wave, just to make sure she wasn't the object of attention.

The next class after that was English. They were to read and analyze Pride and Prejudice, but Beca herself lost her train of thought, filled throughout the whole class of Katrina.  
Beca couldn't exactly put her finger on it, but there was a certain...magnetism about her. Is it because she was new ? Foreign ? The colors she wore, or was it that smile ?

Or maybe Beca was trying to get her mind off her parents divorce.

Either way, it was like her head was invaded.

Gym didn't make it easier. They had to do a track run today, and as usual, she'd wear her headphones as she ran.

Low and behold, Katrina was in this class too, and remarkably quickly found herself ahead of the other girls by several yards. She was spectacularly fit for someone her size range.

Well it was around this time Beca's attempts to distract herself caught up to her.

For lack of a better word, she found herself tripping over her own to feet, and had a major whip out onto the dirt road of the track, rolling and tumbling to a grinding halt. And it hurt like a bitch: aside from the glaring sting of skin tearing up her shin, and even on her thigh.

There was even a few red marks on the track.

Naturally, the other girls, and the coach in class cluttered around her. Each of them asking if she was alright. Of course she wasn't. She was pretty sure her shin was broken, and if she wasn't afraid to look, she'd wager her ankle is twisted. She wasn't one who cries in public, but in this case, Beca makes an exception and lets a few tears fall.

Needless to say, Beca had to sit this one out, and out of all the girls in all the gym classes in all the world, it had to be Katrina who picked her up and volunteered to take her to the nurse's office.

Katrina stood Beca up, and walked/hopped her toward the nurses station, but peculiarly, once they where out of viewpoint, Katrina scooped Beca up and carried her in a bridal like fashion towards the doors.

This threw Beca off, and the pain she was in was all but forgotten.

"It's to keep it easy on your ankle." Katrina explains.

Making it to the news station, Katrina insisted on staying by Beca's side while she was looked over.

"Looks like it smarts," the nurse said with a cringe looking over the wounds.

"Feels that way too," Beca nods.

"But other than a few cuts and bruises, the damage isn't too bad looks like your ankle isn't broken. Although it looks like you pulled a muscle." The nurse explains "You may have to go see the doctors up town. I suggest at the very least staying off that leg for a few days, maybe a week. I'm also going to have to call your parents."

"They won't be home." Beca shakes with a wince "Mom's out of town, and my dad is at work."

"Which is ?"

"Out of town. Like three hours away."

"I'll still have to call them." The nurse says.

"It's okay," Katrina explains "I can take it from here." Katrina turns to Beca when the nurse excuses herself "Do you have a lift ?"

Beca shakes her head "My house is a little ways down the block, just turn the corner."

"Then it's a good thing I brought my car then."

\----

Upon reaching Beca's house, they have gotten to know eachother a little more.

"So...Mitchell, do you have any one else staying with you or...?" Katerina asks.

"No, not really. My dad's been staying out of town with this girl, and my mom-" Beca starts before she winces.

"Is there anything I can help you with ?" Katerina asks, pulling into the drive way.

"I just need walked to my bed. Besides, don't you got a place to stay yourself ?"

Katrina gets out of the car, before helping Beca out the front seat "Hm, I do, but I prefer travel when I can. I spend more days in the woods than my apartment anyways."  
Beca wasn't a social person, but she does understand that Katerina is just trying to be nice. Besides, she's new. What harm can she do ?

"I mean if you don't mind, I could use someone around here." Beca nods. The house did feel rather empty lately.

"Sleepover it is then!" Katrina beams.

Beca couldn't help but chuckle a little "I guess, but I'm someone who generally likes my space." She notices Katerina frown a little "B-but, I can call you up when I need you."

Katrina helps Beca into the house and up the stairs, as they make their way up to her bedroom, the former tries to make conversation with her "So what is it like in Haddonfield ?"

  
"Hmm?"

"I'm new to the neighborhood, and don't have much to do besides travel, but no one to hang out with. Plus, I want to get to know the place a little." She explains, setting Beca onto her bed.

"Oh, I don't know." Beca explains "There's the movies, the mall. I think you've been to the park. I used to go to a camp there as a kid, but, y'know it's not around anymore due to these pranks these knuckle heads keep pulling. Parents were to scared to send their kids there anymore."

Katrina glances at a picture of a nine year old Beca at a camp sign reading "Camp Old Willow"; Beca looked remarkably different then, with the girly ponytails she was wearing, as well as the freckles and glasses she had. She looked cute then...and now she looked delicious.

"What can you tell me about the town itself ? Anything exciting happen recently ?"

"Not...recently." Beca says after thinking a moment.

There wasn't that much to talk about regarding the towns history; Beca recalls how back in the 70's, this guy went on a killing spree on Halloween night. She wasn't sure what of to believe of the whole story of it as it always changes. Eeven locals couldn't tell you what was fact or what was the subject of urban legend, and whatever was documented from this said different things.

The long version ? Depending on who you ask around town, some say the girl that the killer was after was his sister; some say he went after her daughter a decade later, along with stories of cult activity in the 90's; others say that twenty years later, he went after his sister again after tracking her to California. There was also an incident in 2002, but she's pretty sure that was a publicity stunt for a crappy reality show that never got a chance to air; and finally, there were some that said the killer was simply arrested after his initial rampage and placed back in the sanitarium were he remains to this day.

So the most notable thing in this towns history was this killing spree that no one really seems to know what actually happened. And it's not like Beca had that much interest in unearthing the truth.

The two of them spent the evening just talking. Only taking a break to order pizza, and to answer calls from Mr. Mitchell and the former Mrs. Mitchell respectively.

Beca would talk about her childhood and her no existent social life; Katerina would talk about the places she travelled and her fascination with history, as well as her own lack of a social life. Things just sort of clicked between them.

While waiting, for pizza, Katerina spent a significant amount of time in the kitchen preparing shakes. Unbeknownst to Beca, Katrina added her own little ingredient in her drink; something Katrina spilled from her own wrist.

"You know what we should do ? You and I, we could go to that park you've been talking about." Katrina suggests.

"I'm...a little inconvenienced at the moment." Beca gestures to her leg.

"I mean when you are on your feet."

"I think that may be a while." Beca shrugs.

"In my own experience, stranger things have happened." Katrina shrugs, gesturing to the shakes, "Drink up, I put a lot of work into yours."

Beca raised an eyebrow in curiosity, but drank it down with caution. Later in the evening, Beca found herself drifting off while watching _Coraline_.

\----

Beca awakens the next morning in a daze. Katrina was still in bed with her.

To Beca's curiosity and astonishment, the bruises and cuts on her leg were cleared, but her ankle, while not as bad as the day before, was still sore. Katerina was sleeping above the sheets, and both of them were clothed. As far as Beca could tell, she wasn't taken advantage of.

Out of caution and instinct, Beca gets up over the side of her bed and puts her feet on the ground. She feels a small sting in her ankle, and the wince she makes it loud enough to rouse Katrina awake.

"Mmmmm, did I miss something ?" Katrina asks, with a yawn and a stretch, before noticing Beca's leg "Oh, I see someone's feeling better." With no hesitation on her part, Katerina reaches forward and strokes Beca's leg up and down with her fingers; "Looks good too."

Beca freezes at the touch, and her eyes flicker between Katrina's eyes and her hand. Katrina flushes in embarrassment, before pulling her hand away.  
"Sorry. Where I come from, people were pretty touchy feely."

"I mean. It's cool," Beca says not trying to sound rude to this naïve seeming girl "It's just here we have a little thing called restrictions."

"I know of them, but no one in my life got the memo before I got her." Katrina chuckles "Anyways, how you feeling now ?"

Beca looks down and experimentally steps on the floor around her "It stings a bit. I may have to rest for another day or so."

"Then I've got more shakes to make." Katrina gets back up, but before she takes her leave, she asks "So, assuming you're all better. Say, in a day or so, how you for a hike in the woods."

Beca scoffs/chuckles at this "I mean, if my leg's better, I have to run it by the school."

"Or better yet, if you don't run it by the school..." Katrina starts with a grin "Then I just bought you a free week off. How's that for a new friend ?"

\----

**2021**

** Ottawa, Ontario **

Danny Lawrence has just finished her fourth cigarette. She normally doesn't smoke, but this was a particularly stressful time with her investigation.

Over the past two years, Danny has worked for a "Classified Agency", involved in investigating those involved in Inanna's operations. This was her way of making up for her own part in Inanna's plans.

Danny's testimony alone exposed many big name big wigs in the Corvae Corp, and members of Silas secret government as it were; although with the sheer number of Inanna's followers dying, ultimately, the only one who ended up going to jail was her killer, Theo Straka. Unfortunately, with the rise of what the media dubs "Skin Boys", the information of those involved - as well as witnesses and victim - put in danger.

For a safety precaution, Danny kept what information she could gather on a hard-drive, and had to make sure her own files where not at risk, she entrusted them on a computer she was sure wouldn't be targeted; the Ottawa offices of LaFerry Industries.

Which...unfortunately suffered a cyber attack, which left Danny, LaFontaine, and Perry spending the better part of six days salvaging the damage and seeing what exactly was stolen. No one else was supposed to know it was there

Or to put it more accurately, LaFontaine was putting all her technical know how in looking over what is left on the companies computers; so far nothing about the hard-drive. This could either mean its info was still intact, or completely whipped out.

It got so bad, the Danny finds herself smoking on the companies roof, and LaFontaine has taken up a bit of a drinking habit to get through recovery. In retrospect, burying the hard-drives information under all those files may not have been the best strategy.

"Soo...do you want me to check on them ?" Kirsch asked.

Kirsch was there as well, mostly to provide support, although he was working along with her for some time. After all, he too was a slave of Inanna's operations, and for a while, was her plaything in her early days as a vampire.

"Nah, just give Laf their space." Danny says "We kept it under the I files. It should be another few hours."

Danny offers Kirsch a cigarette, but he refuses.

"You get the news on Carm and Laura ?"

"Em, they got a surrogate." Danny nods "Laura called me about it last night."

"Think we should see them ?" Kirsch asks awkwardly "Or at least call in ?"

"Give it a few more hours, and we call it a day."

Danny was the first one Laura called the night before, about how Dr. Cormier, and how the insemination was successful; sure enough, Danny was going to be the aunt of a damphir. She wished she could share the enthusiasm, but she had too much on her plate as it is.

Kirsch, was pretty enthusiastic about being an uncle the second time around. And by second time, it was that he considered himself the uncle to this girls baby. Danny has only met this woman, Stacie, once in 2017, but apparently she was someone Krisch ostensibly hooked up with after Silas.

Ostensibly, is the key word, because Kirsch had to clarify that nothing sexual actually happened despite what Stacie thought.

Despite initial assumptions, Kirsch was not the father of Bella Conrad. It's true that he met Stacie shortly after the Silas party, and yes, they attended the same spring break parties and became fast friends over their time there, at no point did Kirsch actually have sex with Stacie.

The actual father was this prick from another campus cheating on his girlfriend at the time. Still Stacie had Kirsch in her list of suspects, and she'd admit she was a little disappointed, because he seemed like a decent guy. It didn't stop Kirsch from becoming a follower and friend of hers over social media at the time of the DNA test.

_It was mid 2017; Danny was there as Kirsch's support, and even when it was clarified there was no real sexual encounter between him and Stacie, he wanted to make sure she was alright. She remembers the one time Stacie spoke to her; they were both on bathroom break and made small talk while washing hands. Stacie was under the impression that Danny was his girlfriend._

_"Uh, no." Danny had to clarify "Just here as a friend. I'm his support buddy."_

_"Ah, that's how me and 'Brey started out." Stacie nods "By the way, anyone tell you you're a little shorter than those videos made you out to be ?"_

_Danny rolls her eyes "I get that a lot. Always nice to meet a fan."_

_"I know it's not my place to ask, but...how you holding up ?" Stacie asks "Are you and that tiny girl close ?"_

_Danny nods "She and Carmilla are taking a year off from the city. They're on a vacation this year."_

_Stacie looks up and down Danny "I know it's further awkward for me to say, but when I thought that show of yours wasn't real...a lot of us were rooting for you."_

_"As in ?"_

_"The lot of us were real upset when you were murdered, and were happy to see you back. My friend Chloe cried like a baby about it."_

_Danny smiles at this "I...I get that a lot."_

_"Is everything okay with you ? Aside from Laura and the others ?" Stacie asks._

_Danny thinks about how her life outside of Silas has adjusted. Her death was broadcasted over the internet, as was her vampire resurrection...and servitude with Inanna. Needless to say when Danny did return home, it was an awkward time for her family to adjust._

_"Laura and the gang, we're doing okay. It's the others you speak of that gets complicated." Danny answers._

_Stacie has a look of realization "Oh! Oh, my god I didn't mean to get personal-"_

_"It's cool," Danny says "I meet fans all the time. It's nothing I haven't heard before."_

_Later in the day, Stacie found out to her chagrin who Bella's father was and decided she wanted him to have nothing to do with Bella. Kirsch and Stacie did echange emails, and that was that as far as Danny could tell._

Danny was pulled from her train of thought by Perry's voice "Are you two busy ?"

Danny and Kirsch turn their heads to see Perry standing behind them.

"Laf has covered about anything, just need to you take a look at something."

\----  
When they made their way to LaFontaine's offices, it was a simple matter of going over the data.

"So as far as I can tell, none of our employees information has been stolen, nor was our planned products for next year." LaFontaine says "So at the very least we know this wasn't an attack on our company."

"But, what's actually missing ?" Danny asks.

"Other than a couple of hundred dollars in bit coin, nothing." LaFontaine explains.  
"Which means ?" Perry asks.

"The cyber attack was a decoy." Danny says.

"Or it would be, but for the most part your hard-drive is untouched." LaFontaine says with as if it was an accomplishment "Like I said, no one touches the companies firewall without being scorched. Do I know how to make them, or do I know how to make them ?"

"What does mostly mean ?"

"Kinda but not really ?" Kirsch quips, before the other three look at him "Well, that's what it means."

"It's nothing," LaFontaine says "But someone was looking at one of your files." They click on a file that reads "Crimson List".

The Crimson List was the aptly dubbed document Danny made for the organizations ongoing investigation. It consists of members of Corvae, and those within the Silas Community that willingly, took part in Inanna's schemes by signing a blood contract with Inanna herself. It was a key requirement to open each gate to Hell. Because Inanna died before the contract was expired, they were still on the loose and yet to answer for their involvement.

Except for Theo Straka.

"Alright, that should about cover everything." Danny nods "I'll give the bosses a call and update."

As Danny excuses herself from the room, the other three take the discussion elsewhere.

"So, about Carm and Laura ?" Perry starts.

"I know! Can you believe it ?" Kirsch adds with a bit of a gush.

"They're staying with the surrogate, right ?" Perry asks.

"And their other two girlfriends." LaFontaine notes "They do know the risks, right ?"

This caught the other two off guard.

"What risks ?"

"This is the first documented instance of a damphir pregnancy, in recent history." LaFontaine notes "Laura and I have been talking things over for a while now about the science behind it."

"Okay then, can you make it simple ?" Kirsch asks.

"Well, all I was saying is that damphirs, if they existed before, were rare. Especially when a human mother is the carrier." LaFontaine explains "Laura went to me to talk about health risks, and admittedly there was some stuff I left out so she wouldn't worry."

"Oh my god," Perry realizes "Do you think that's why Laura wanted-"

"No!" Kirsch shook his head "She wouldn't do that or put someone else in danger like that." He gestures to Laura "Didn't you say she had health issues herself ?"

LaFontaine nods "I did. And that Dr. Cormier is a genius when it comes to fertility treatments. I'm sure she got around to working out the kinks and all that. I just want to be absolutely sure they know what they're getting into."

"It's like you said hun," Perry says, putting a hand on LaFontaine's shoulder "Motherhood is only slightly less scary."

"Do we know where they're staying ?"

"Bailey Downs County," LaFontaine nods "It's home to werewolves, but for the most part they let the people be nowadays. We have special customers there."

Their discussion is interrupted by Danny as she re-enters the room.

"I, uh, got some news."

\----

**Bailey Downs, County**

A week and a half in the stay of Casa Del Bella's, as Stacie dubbed it.

Thus far, Chloe has shown no abnormalities, aside from an extensive taste for meat.

For the most part, it threw Beca back to a time when she and the other Bella's lived under the same roof, with little toddler Bella thrown into the mix.

Laura and Carmilla both grew accustomed to having the little tyke playing around the house, and Carmilla admits at times that Bella is making her feel like a Mama already.

Needles to say, playful Carmilla was a rare sight outside the bedroom, and Bella is bringing it out just about every time she talks to her. Notably, their game of face paint, in which Bella made Carmilla - naturally - a kitty, while Carmilla painted her like a tiger.

...and then the other women in the house made them wash it off.

That being said, in was generally agreed upon that Carmilla and Bella's "kitty kisses" goodnight routine was among the cutest things in the house, even if Carmilla vehemently insists that they don't take pictures or videos of it.

Neither Laura nor Beca have left Chloe's side, both being cautiously protective of her, especially when she takes morning walks on the local trail. One can not be too careful with the local wildlife in the area, what with all the wolf sightings and all.

Recent sightings of a black panther prowling the woods may or may not have helped but at least there were times Laura and Chloe felt safe under the watchful eye of a protective predator.

"So," Laura starts one conversation, on the first of once such walk "Have you've been feeling nostalgic being back in your home town ?"

"I mean, we haven't really gone back into town, and the few times we did, everything's changed." Chloe says "A lot of the kids that grew up here have probably moved, and aside from my neighbors, who probably aren't there anymore."

"I take it there wasn't a mall there when you were a kid ?"

"Not this close to town. What can I say ? A whole lot changes in two decades."

"A whole lot changes in one." Beca says catching up to them "When I was a kid, if you told me someone would invent a phone, MP3 and computer combination in nine years, I'd call you crazy."

"And if you told me I'd be marrying a vampire before Silas, I'd say pinch me I'm dreaming." Laura nods in agreement "Although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't picturing Alice Cullen."  
The three laugh as they heard the resentful snarl of a panther in the distance behind them.

"But to answer your first question, this trail here is nostalgic." Chloe starts "My grandma used to live up here, and she'd take me on walks to this spot when I was little." She then add "Of course, that was before the whole Beast of Bailey Downs incidents back in the day."

"Does she-" Laura starts to ask before realizing it might be a touchy subject.

"Nah," Chloe shakes her head "She passed when I was fourteen and I don't think her house is up here anymore. Even if it is, some other family probably moved in and changed everything about it. I don't think this spot remembers me as much as I remember it."

Chloe stops them as they hear the sound of rushing water a short distance away.

"Waterfall." Chloe nods following the sound "Kids also used to come out by this swimming hole back in the day, but I never got to go myself. It was kind of a big kids thing, but me and G-ma used to watch them have their fun."

They soon reach a clearing, and in a short distance could hear the loud sound of running water. They stop at a railing, and see a ravine.

At the bottom there was a sure enough at small river, and a waterhole at the base of a forty foot waterfall. There was even a gate connected to metal flights of stairs leading to the bottom of the ravine.

They felt the presence of a fourth person behind them, and sure enough, Carmilla walks up from behind and wraps her arms around Laura's waist, putting a chin on her shoulder. Beca was taken a little aback by her abruptness, but Chloe was unfazed.

"Think people still come down here ?" Carmilla asks.

"Not as far as I know," Chloe states "There's been an increase in the local wildlife, so it can't be polluted."

"Hmm, Stacie has talking about taking Bella out, been asking around about what she might like."

"We're thinking of taken her to see a movie." Beca answers.

"We see movies every night." Laura says.

"At the theatre I mean. After quarantine last year, we've been meaning to get the little tyke out to more events." Beca explains.

"The expo is supposed to be in a few months." Laura starts "Carm and I don't usually go in costume, but with your DC thing going on-" Laura in interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing "I- I've got to take this hold on."

Laura walks a distance to make sure she could hear the water running over her phone. She puts it on speakers anyways.

"Tiny's Pizza, Lucy speaking!" Laura answers.

"Big Smoke, calling in to make an order." Danny's voice replies with a bit of a laugh.

"There she is, have been trying to reach you all week." Laura says.

"Yeah, sorry. Something came up. Again." Danny sighs.

"How bad is it ?"

"Someone sprang Theo out the pen." Danny says "There's already a manhunt, but..." Danny stops before changing the course of discussion "You know, enough about me ? How's things on your end."

"Have you seen the videos I've been sharing ?" Laura asks.

"No, I was busy with work."

"Ah, well, check out my Facebook when you can. You might never see Carmilla the same way again." Laura smiles.

"You mean...like when she held your niece ?" Danny asks.

"Times ten!" Laura holds the phone away to avoid how loud Danny's squee is.

"I wish I could be there, but like I said, I got a lot on my plate." Danny explains.

"Well, Chloe and her girls are inviting some friends over for a baby shower in a few weeks."

"Isn't it a little early for that ?" Danny asks.

Laura shrugs "It's more of an excuse for them to have a get together. Their little girl has a birthday coming up in a few months and we don't want to distract from that. I mean, you should be done with work by then, right ? I mean, I don't want to guilt you or anything, but it would mean a lot for me for you to be there."

"How about I promise on my life ?" Danny asks.

"Please don't."

"Too late!" Danny states "Besides, it's just a little manhunt. Ain't nothing I haven't gotten involved with before."

"It won't be too much trouble ?" Laura asks hesitantly.

"It's just for one guy." Danny tries to reassure her.

"Alright, I'll see you then I guess."

With that the two hung up.

\----

Back in Ottawa, Danny hangs up her phone before getting back to the others at LaFerry's offices.

"What news ?" LaFontaine asks.

"They're already planning a baby shower, so we have a few weeks to fix this little problem." Danny says, taking a seat at the offices table. Across the table a map of Europe, with several marks on different key locations.

"All this for one jock ?" Perry asks.

"That one jock has the information that is critical in our investigation," Danny says.

"And a bone to pick with all of us." LaFontaine adds.

"And killed Danny." Kirsch finishes under his breath.

"Did you tell Laura all the details ?" LaFontaine asks.

"I didn't want her to worry. Besides, she's got enough protection with her." Danny nods.

"Okay, but mathematically, two vampires are better than one." Perry says before noticing Danny glancing at her "Sorry. But do we know where we are going ?"

"Our prison center was set up in the Carpathian Mountains," Danny points to the location on the map "Storms and cloudy weather have been acting up lately. Doesn't leave that much places to fly too. He's likely still in the Mountains, so that's the first stop. Any questions or comments."

"Your prison was attacked like a week ago ? He's probably out of the country by now." Perry says.

"Probably, but people have been seeing more and more of the skinboys in the Mountains. Our best bet is they have something set up there. Any other questions or comments ?"

Kirsch raises his hand "Can't say this is how I expected our next trip to Europe...but this one I've been looking forward too."

Danny nods in agreement "Same."

\----

**In the Carpathian Mountains.**

Theo Straka wanders aimlessly through what appears to be a tent city or trailer park.

He needed three things at the moment, a hot meal, a shower and a girl to be his bedmate. In the past few days, he didn't so much as have the privacy to take a piss or shit, safe for an outhouse.

He's found a spot by a lakeside he made his own, and where he more often than thought finds himself crashing for drinking time. This was one such instance.

Theo finds himself as cold and bitter as the weather. It's been raining non stop, and he ends up having to sleep in a tent with three other guys, and if that wasn't enough, it storms at night. Really, he could almost choke the next bitch who speaks to him if he had it in him.

But alas, he didn't have it in him.

As far as he could tell there was one place warm, that had electricity, space and running water. And more importantly, were all these folks women slept in.

It was the home of one Count Karnstein, and from what little has been said, he gained favor with these good people; Skinboys as the media names them and has offered them the chance of a lifetime.

Of course, they had to live under him in Tent City, and Theo was no exception.

If there was one constant with these guys, is they hated the supernatural, but the fact the Count was a vampire, and apparently related to a public vampire "hero", didn't bother them too much.

Of course, he knew not why, these people were not very talkative.

Which is why he felt his day was taking a turn, when two approached him and said "Boss man wants to talk to you."

"Tell him he can come here himself." Theo says with a spit.

"He wasn't asking." Was his only warning before they took Theo by the shoulders and dragged him out of the woods and towards the lodge. That's what he gets for choosing the hard way.  
\----

Theo found himself being forced down at a dinner table.

The interior had a real extravagant design; there were women, walking around the place, each dressed in white form fitting dresses; at the head of the table sat Count Karnstein himself.

One again, still married and disfigured; the image of Count Orlok and Lord Voldemort.

While the good Count was dining his way through roast beef, chicken, grapes and even an apple, Theo was treated with a small dish of veggies and a glass of milk.

"I take it your new comrades weren't so welcoming, during your stay ?" The Count starts.

"I thought we were going to Canada."

"We will in due time," The Count wipes off his mouth "We just needed to clear things up first. Not the least of which is teaching you some humility."

"I'm not sure you if you've been following my history, but me and humility don't mix." Theo crosses his arms.

"Hence why you need a lesson, especially since I don't know if you're willing to play ball."

"What do you have in mind ?" Theo asks.

"I'm sure you have your gripes against the heroes of Silas as do I." The Count gets up from his seat and walks around the table towards Theo "I have my own vendetta against the harlot Karnstein."

"I can guess," Theo nods "In fact, let me guess; she's what, your cousin, mother, sist-"

"She is nothing!" The Count hisses, gesturing up to her face "I was once beautiful, before that life sucking succubus got her talons into me. For centuries, it has been my goal in life to tear hers asunder, and only now do I have the chance. I'll break her worse than she broke me..." The Count stares into the distance.

"Geeze sorry I asked," Theo waves dismissively "But what does this have to do with me?"

"You have your vendetta, and I need a proxy. You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours." The Count says, in fact scratching Theo's back to emphasize his point.

Theo impulsively moves away from the Counts touch but musters up the words to say "What's the catch ?"

"Temporary house arrest, under my watch and direction. Will you accept these terms ?"

Theo reaches out to shake the Count's hand "I need a few things."

"Food, water, shelter, oxygen and clothing; anything else is a want." The Count says.

"Okay, I want a shower then." Theo says.

"One of my dolls will see to your needs." The Count snaps his finger to one of the women, a smaller one with a perky demanour and light red hair "Tara, be a good dear and see that Mr. Straka here is bathed."

The woman walks up to Theo and takes him by the arm. As she leads Theo out of the room the Count addresses him once more.

"And Mr. Straka, I would really recommend you not touch my toys; it may cost you an arm, a leg or that thing in between them."

Tara giggles as she lead Theo up the lodges stairs before whispering to him "You can touch me, so long as the Count doesn't know."

Theo smirks "Is that so ?"

Making sure no one's looking, Theo impulsively reaches towards one of her breasts, but Tara catches him by the wrist "Hmmm, no."

She then guides Theo's hand towards her ass, having him give her a squeeze on one of her cheeks.

"Well, that was underwhelming." Theo says disappointedly.

"But aren't you glad you did it ? Might be all you get for a long time." Tara winks with another giggle.

\----

Later in the evening, the Count is sitting in his office. Specifically, on his desktop, going over information that has been downloaded and sent to his computer. It was of course the diamond in the ruff he's been looking for.

The Crimson List; and all the names on it.


	4. Story Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the *long* wait for those following. I've been busy with "Unlife is Strange", which has taken a considerable amount of my attention, and writers block for this story for some time. In any case, I was able to finally get to writing this chapter.
> 
> Originally, this was going to be longer and be bit of a family trip chapter, but I settled for more of Mircalla and Elijah's past, and more Bella Conrad stuff. This is also a world building chapter, focusing on the lore I have in mind for future stories I plan on setting in the "Haunted World" series, including two prequels to this story.
> 
> Basically, I will be making references to other works that may or may not be implemented into this works "verse" when it comes to future fics. Besides the stuff I already use here, and in my smut shot "A Halloween Treat".
> 
> Speaking off, we get a little bit smut in this chapter, but it doesn't last for very long.
> 
> Anyways, I hope this chapter is worth it for those who wait.

**The Gruber Manor, 1696**

Mircalla Karnstien sat at a desk in her bedroom, writing or trying to write her thoughts in her newly gifted diary.

The problem is, she was bored out of her fucking skull.

Mircalla has spent the better part of the last few weeks staring at the blank pages of her diary, and only ever wrote three pages thus far. 

Ever get that feeling where you feel the need to write something down but when you have a pen and paper in front of you, but the words just don't come ? Maybe you are sitting around waiting for the ideas. Maybe you have too many thoughts going through your head at once. That was what was the case with Mircalla for the past near month.

She's at the point where she just feels like writing " _Blah Blah Blah. La La La. The end._ "

When she wasn't cooped up in her room, Mircalla spent her time in a library trying to find new books to read. Other times, she would take long walks on the fields on the Gruber property; under the watchful eye of Count Gruber - now named a Duke due to recent events with the other nobles.  
Mircalla wasn't one for politics, and at times she had to be corrected when she kept calling her host "Count".

Ferdinand Gruber wasn't a bad man, per say, but rather a serious one from the few times he crossed paths with Mircalla; a very business oriented type, whose focus was getting his family higher on the political ladder, much like Falco Karnstien. Unlike Falco, Gruber was clearly more successful.

The presence of children at the Gruber household was severely lacking; there was their daughter Luisa, seven years old, who wasn't exactly a talkative type, and was shy when it came to meeting new people. Mircalla must have crossed paths with her four times in the weeks she stayed at the manor. 

Augustus, a thirteen year old who was also the silent and reserved type, had more, albeit fleeting interactions with Mircalla. From what little she saw of Augustus, he was what Falco would describe as "weak and unmanly"; one memorable encounter with him in a Library for example, showed he had an interest in Greek Mythology. He was a timid and shy type, and while Mircalla was under the impression that her father wanted to make her a suitor for this boy...he seemed to have the same kind of aversion for her as she did for him.

Pushing herself away from the desk, Mircalla steps out of her room, wanting to soak in the sun and clear her head of the annoying and intrusive thoughts.  
She intended to spend the day outside, but as she made her way to the main hall of the Gruber Manor, she was greeted with the sight of Lady Josaphine Gruber, introducing little Luisa to a woman, who crouched down to speak with the seven year old.

"She is to be your tutor and caretaker, Luisa, for when Madam Greta pulls through for her illness." Countess Gruber could be heard.

Luisa, as usual, says nothing, but looks away from the woman.

The woman had dark skin, with matching hair and a dress; a captivating and exotic sight to Mircalla's young eyes. There was an underlying sense of danger in her presence...and yet, there was something that attracted Mircalla to her. She was undeniably beautiful, Mircalla would give her that.

If Mircalla's heart stopped at the sight of the woman, she felt a jarring jolt when this woman looked at her, even if it was a brief glance.

"It's okay little one," The woman says with an accented voice "I was a shy girl myself, but I think you and I are going to be good friends in no time!"

Mia lets out a little whimpering sound as she buries her face in her mother's dress.

"I'm sorry," Lady Gruber says, rubbing Luisa on the back "She's not used to new people."

As the woman looks towards Mircalla once again, Lady Gruber does the same.

"I was told you had one daughter here." The new woman says.

"Oh, this is our ward," Lady Gruber say "Mircalla Karnstien. She's in our temporary custody as per a deal we made with her father."

"I see, and what can you tell me of the Karnstien's ?" She says.

"Count Falco. His father helped my husband acquire much of his wealth, while Falco himself became rather." Lady Gruber starts before whispering in the woman's ear when she notices Mircalla still watching "Insignificant. My husband has been trying to help him and his children out of a bad spot, quite frankly."  
Mircalla winces a little when she hears this, but she feels herself freeze up again when the woman makes her way towards her.

"It sounds to me like you're in a bit of a lonely spot. If I may be so bold ?"

Mircalla timidly nods.

"Are you and the Gruber children close ?"

Mircalla speaks for the first time all day.

"Not particularly, no." She shakes her head.

"Don't be foolish." Lady Gruber adds in "You and Augustus spend the lot of your time in a library."

"But not together." Mircalla answers her.

"I see." Lady Gruber says "Well, we're going to have to do something about that."

The Lady of the house notices the woman in black, and figures while she's here, she might as well make a proper introduction between them.  
"Lady Mircalla, may I be the one to introduce you too, Madame-"

"Madam Matska," The younger woman says, approaching Mircalla, taking the timid girl by the hand and kissing her wrist.

Just about every woman in the room didn't know what to make of it, but Lady Gruber chalked it up to some kind of foreign eccentricity.

"I look forward to the time I will be spending with you," Matska says, turning her head to Lady Gruber and Luisa "And the rest of your house of course."  
Matska turns her attention back to Mia.

"And of course, I look forward to being your friend."

The following conversation took a bit of a turn, but the short of it was that Mircalla's plan to take a walk took a turn when she joined Matska on her tour of the Gruber household. In the hours that followed, she noticed how Luisa seemed to warm up to the woman, especially when the latter would whisper something unheard to her.

\----

Matksa has made herself at home with the Gruber's, though spent most of her time with Luisa. The little girl would never talk still, but a lot of the time, Matska would do or say something that would make her laugh.

Three days into her stay however, things took a bit of a turn, as Matska took Luisa on a stroll off their manor grounds. Unbeknownst to either of them, there were instances of a brown bear on the loose, picking off livestock, evading hunters and having eaten at least one farm boy, thus giving it a taste for human blood.

Said bear happened upon the two on their stroll, whereupon Matska did something to the bear that Luisa certainly isn't going to be talking about. Luisa spent the last few days in her room with only Matska or Lady Gruber as her company.

On the upside, Matska was able to claim the reward and price on the bears head.

About a week later, Lady Gruber's insistence (read: nagging), the time came for Mircalla and Gruber to have a sit down in the families library. They were tasked with, of course, reading books and summarizing them to each other. Lady Gruber's hope was the two would at least get to know each other.

They were joined by Matska and Luisa, the latter having stepped out of the room for the day, and were looking to collect fairy tale books once the older children were done with them.

To their credit, it started to work around the time Mircalla was finished reading _Sleeping Beauty_.

"You seemed bored with that one." Augustus would note "I take it you've read it before ?"

"I read a different version. From the fairy's perspective you see." Mircalla answers.

"Ah," Augustus nods "Are you familiar with the one with the Prince's mother, turning out to be a monster ?"

"Mmmhmm, came from the same book no less." Mircalla says.

"See, fairy tales never really intrigued me as they used to; nowadays, I've had more interest in classic mythology."

"Greek stuff ?" Mircalla asks.

"Exactly. My father plans on starting a museum, you know. Sometimes he brings me copies and translations of these old texts. Helped me nurse a hobby of mine."

"So you mean to say you're into heroes ? Hercules, Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus- ?" Mircalla starts to ask.

"It occurs to me now that there are a lot of Eus's, but no. I am more interested in this poet." Augustus starts "Are you familiar with Sappho of Lesbos ?"  
This honestly took Mircalla by surprise.

"I wouldn't think that the son of a duke would-""I know, it's weird and unmanly of me to think this way." Agustus says, honestly looking a little embarrassed "It's just, for some reason, I am just absolutely fixated on stories with women. I find myself more often than not, empathizing with female protagonists and heroes than male ones."

Augustus averts his gaze from Mircalla as he continues.

"With Sappho, I am drawn to her for her poetry. Supposedly, very few of her poems still exist. Even more dubiously, what I have here." He says, lifting his book up for Mircalla to see "Is supposed to be a rough translation to her ode to Aphrodite."

"Aphrodite, huh ?" Mircalla says "I hear all these different things about her. The library back at home has all these different versions of different stories, I never quite knew what to stick with."

"Like that Sleeping Beauty story ?"

"Exactly. Whenever I went to the Library, it - and this is going to sound childish and stupid as all Hell - but it was like I step into another world. Sometimes it seems bigger there than the rest of my family's manor. Whenever I was looking for something new, it would always give me a new version of an old story. When I looked for a book no one else seemed to have read, suddenly one would appear to me on the shelf."

Mircalla shrugs a bit as she says this.

"It was like it knew," she says "Does that make sense ?"

"Is that so ?" They hear Matska ask from across the room "Please, don't stop on our account. I just couldn't help but overhear."

Augustus pauses before he speaks again.

"Books no one else has read...can you give me an example ?"

Mircalla sighs trying to think of where to start.

"So, you know Hercules right ?" She asks, continuing when she nods "Well, what I find may or may not be canon to the original myths, but what I found are these stories of all his untold legendary journeys. And along with that, there were tales of a warrior Princess, who if she existed, her name disappeared from time..."  
Mircalla spends the next hour or so, going over some of the same stories she both read, and told Elijah when they lived at home. Augustus for his part became rather engrossed in her story telling method. As usual, this could be chalked up in the rather animated performance Mircalla gives in these stories.

Part way through, Luisa made her way to the table to take a seat at her brother's side. Matska for her part made her way to the table, but sat at the far end.  
After the tale of the warrior princess and Hercules were over, Mircalla correctly guessed that he wanted more. So she moved to a tale that she found in what she thought were books of myth or a long since obscured history.

"But what is myth but another's history!" Augustus interrupts her with a boyish enthusiasm that makes Mircalla guffaw.

"That sounded a lot better in your head, didn't it ?" Mircalla says, causing Augustus to shrug with a blushing smile.

But now it was time to start the next set of stories.

"Okay, so there was this Kingdom - actually no there were seven kingdoms, and each of these kingdoms were governed by these ruling families..." Mircalla starts.

Because Luisa was sitting right there, Mircalla had to heavily tone down, and skip through the story at some of the more extreme bits, much like how she had to do when she told these stories to Elijah.

Regardless, over the course of two hours, the Gruber children, and even Matska seemed to listen rather intently. By the time Mircalla reaches the part where "The Dragon Queen'' reached those kingdoms, she finds herself stopping into a bit of a stutter.

"...from there, it gets kind of murky. I try reading the follow up books, but different versions say different things."

"So you mean to say," Matska starts “That was the one you heard ?”

“You mean you know others ?” Mircalla asks.

“When your...family has been around as long as mine has, you tend to see things actually unfold, and how they change over time.” Matska says before eying Augustus “What was it you said ? - What is myth but another's history!” she says mimicking Augustus’ declaration from earlier, causing the boy to flush.

Luisa got off her seat and walked up to Matska, climbing into her lab. With the seven girls looking up at her expectedly, Matska smiled a bit before she composed herself.

“The truth of the matter is, all myths, legends, what have ya; they have some basis behind them. Those Warrior Princess stories you tell ? Riddled with anachronisms. There are some broad strokes between that and what I like to think of as the true story.” Matska explains.

For the rest of the day, Matska would re-cover the very same stories Mircalla told - with her “corrections” here and there. From the tales of the Warrior Princess to the stories of the Seven Kingdoms. She had a more classy, dignified way of story telling than Mircalla did, and had the confidence and assurance of someone who had to be alive at the time.

\----

**Mespotanian Country Side, 1696**

It has been weeks since Elijah Karnstien left his home behind.

Forced to accompany his father Count Falco on his latest expedition, Elijah was isolated for weeks on end from his sister, the stories she used to tell, and the games they used to play.

For the most part Elijah spent his time alone in his room with his thoughts.

His favorite time of the day was when he was asleep. At least then he could be with Mircalla.

Being four years old, Elijah knew not what his father sought to gain from this journey. 

He could never understand the deal Falco made with the Gruber's, to allow him to use their trading company and mercenary army as part of an expedition to this spot of land they own in what was once the city of Sumer. All he knew or cared about was that his Mircalla wasn't here.

Elijah knew of the city from the stories Mircalla told him, but his heart would sink a little when he saw the city wasn't the prosperous kingdom his sister told him about.

So he resigned himself to his tent when the party set up a large camp for their stay.

Falco stayed in a tent of his own as well, considerably more pampered than that of his sons, but he spent most of his time going over the bits of the city he was allowed too; this covered three religious temples, a series of tombs and the former homes of nobles, and three different counties. Many of which were looked over by explorers of old, not that it stopped Falco and his wagon train.

They were joined by a group of locals as part of their caravan; their de-facto leader being a young Mesopotanian man by the name of Irra, who day in day out would lecture Count Falco about the historical and even mythological significance of the temples they'd visit. Irra was the son of a formerly rich family, that like Falco, made a deal with the Gruber's trading company to get themselves out of a bad spot.

Falco, for his part, would become increasingly annoyed at how he would have to split the treasure between him and the locals. It was eventually agreed upon that it was a forty sixty split - should anyone die on their journey, their share would be added to the equation.

Elijah only traveled when the rest of the caravan did. When he did, he would find himself drifting off to sleep during wagon rides into different regions and counties. Their guides seemed friendly enough, even though Elijah never knew their language.

Three days into their journey, Elijah started to notice something; trailing behind their wagon train, was a woman in a white robe and veil. At first he made nothing of it; probably just a member of the camp straggling behind.

The closer she'd get to their wagons, the more Elijah felt his attention drawn to her, despite the fact everyone else seemed oblivious or indifferent to her presence. She would walk up to the side of whatever wagon Elijah was sitting in, and just stare at the boy.

Sometimes he'd see her in dreams too, that is, if he could tell when he was dreaming.

One evening, he awoke to see her sitting at the foot of his bed. As usual, he couldn't tell if he were dreaming or awake, so he sat his head back on the pillow.  
Elijah never met this woman face to face until one morning, during the camp's breakfast.

Count Falco, as usual, was frustrated with the lack of findings on their journey, and how much he already had to give back to the locals. And as usual, he'd vent his frustrations in the middle of breakfast, a drink on one side, and a bag of coins on the other.

"I don't see why you always have to make a mountain out of a molehill." Irra would say.

"Maybe I've been in a mole hill for too long," Falco says "Maybe I don't want to feel like a mole at all!"

"You really oughta learn to recognize your place in the world." Irra answers "Me, I don't have any aspirations beyond this business with Gruber, and putting food on my families table. I would think someone like you would learn to appreciate the small stuff."

"What's to appreciate ?" Falco says.

"What was that ?"

"I said what's to appreciate ?" Falco shouts more indignantly, nearly spilling his drink.

"How about the fact you were born into a noble family, with a bit of power." Irra says, annoyed at Falco's tone "My grandfather, he squandered my family's fortune; left me and my family to rely on foreign businessmen like Lord Gruber to keep a foot hold. I have but one village to go home too. You ? You have a whole county."

"My county ?" Falco glares "Why do you think I go on these ventures ? That spit of land is nothing, and this treasure I bring back to it less than nothing! The Gruber's own three counties alone, married their oldest daughter to a prince."

As Falco says this, he places several of the coins in his hand and tosses them aside with a scowl.

"A man is only as big as the legacy he leaves, and how much he rules," Falco starts again "My father gave up so much for other nobles to have a stepping stone! And only I have but a thousand acres to show for it! So excuse me, if I believe that a few barrels of gold is little to make up for it!"

This is overlooking the fact that their expedition has uncovered enough treasure to fund an army and stage a small coup; forty seven percent of it would remain in Falco's pocket once he had to pay off his workers.

Still, Falco is beside himself in disappointment.

"My county ? I hear them snickering behind my back!" Falco says as he starts seething "The other nobles, they laugh at me for having such a tiny, insignificant c-"

 _"Cock-A-Doodle-Doo!"_ Falco's rant is interrupted by a rooster in the distance, calling out. 

A few of the people laughed but it quickly calmed down when Falco sunk back into his seat.

"What do you hope to gain from this journey ? Really ?" Irra asks as Falco calms down.

Falco sighs "The Gruber's cleared out a spot of land, hoping to open a museum where their old manor once housed them; which they bought off from my father. It neighbors my land, and while he is collecting from Greece, he would profit off of my people leaving me with little to gain. I have been offered a stake in his claim, in return, I bring Mesopotamia to Austria. Tell them tales of a more unfamiliar Kingdom."

As Falco says this, he slurs a little, looking down his bottle. Clearly nursing a morning headache.

"Your people trade in and out of my country all the time." Irra says "I'm sure there is plenty of familiarity between us."

"What of your gods ?" Falco says.

"What of them ?"

As this conversation is happening, little Elijah puts his breakfast aside to wander the camp. He makes it to the camp's edge to see a massive temple on a hillside a short distance away.

From across the camp, Elijah can hear Falco and Irra's conversation escalating into an argument. He had no curiosity or care what the argument was about. He was just staring at another three story temple with a wall or gate surrounding it.

He was so focused on the temple, he didn't notice when someone walked up behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

Elijah nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned around to see her; the woman in the white dress. Her veil was off, revealing her wide smile, dark eyes and long black hair.

She was far older, somewhere in her mid thirties, but in his four year old, heatstroked mind, one name came to mind.  
"Mircalla ?"

"Who ?" The woman asks, giggling a little as she crouches down to eye level.

"My sistah." Elijah says, mumbling a little in his words "She's smaller but, pretty still. Like you."

The woman visibly flushes at that innocent little wording from the lad, and reaches to take him by the hand.

"Quite a way with words, little one." The woman leans in to his face, stopping at a comfortable distance "Do you have a name ?"

"Elijah Karnstien, mam." Elijah takes her hand to shake it "I'm four, and I am from Austria."

"And what is a four year old like you doing so far from home ?"

"My daddy took me out here." Elijah shrugs.

"What for ?"

"Boring grown up stuff." Elijah says with a sigh "My sister is still at home. Wish she was here though." Elijah crosses his hands behind his back looking down at his feet ``He wants to look at old buildings and treasure, taking statues; Mircalla used to tell me stories."

The woman stood up and smiled down at Elijah, reaching down to take him by the hand, and Elijah, not knowing what else to do, obliges.

"And what kind of stories does she tell you ?" She says, walking up to a tree, sitting with Elijah under the shade.

The woman keeps a smile on her face, even though internally she's probably kicking herself at Elijah's little motormouth going on and on about the stories Mircalla tells; from the basic fairy tales, the stories about lions, about ogres, and princesses.

Elijah tried his hardest to emulate the animated way Mircalla tells her stories, and sing the songs she came up with to go with them.

After Elijah finishes the version of Rapunzel he was told, the woman lightly claps with a mirthful smirk "Mmmm, fantastic little one." She says with a clapping applause "You really seem to carry a piece of Mircalla with you wherever you go."

This confused Elijah as he looked at his hands, up and over his body. The woman rolls her eyes at his literal minded reaction.

"It is an expression little one." She says "It means she's still in your heart, even when she's not here."

Elijah looks down sadly "But I wish I was with her. At home."

"Hmm," the woman says, placing a finger under her chin "And have you ever told her stories ?"

Elijah shakes his head "I don't know how to come up with some."

"I see," The woman says, thinking for a moment "Have you ever been told stories of the gods of old ?"

Elijah shakes his head again.

"I see, so you know not of the ones who ruled the Greek world ? Of heroes, and monsters from a bygone era ? Of Hercules and Xe-" The woman starts.

"I know those ones!" Elijah happily nods "Mircalla told me all about the Warrior Princess and the other guy!"

"I see, and what about the Summarians ?"

Elijah nods again "She told me about Gigamesh."

"Has she ever told you about the god's of this land ?" The woman says.

"I don't know." Elijah says. He knew not of the gods aside from what Mircalla told them, usually limiting them to the stories, and their roles within.

The woman leaned back into the tree truck and sighs wistfully.

"Well, I have a story to tell you, Elijah."

And so she told them about the King in Yellow; Hastur; the Unspeakable one; He Who is Not to Be Named (" _But you just named him._ " Elijah says. _"Do you want to hear the story or not ?...I thought so."_ ) She told Elijah of different gods of different worlds and pantheons. And in forbidden times, they would cross worlds - not unlike the stories Mircalla read of with the warrior princes - this leaves Elijah wondering if they too will be purged like the gods of Greece.

"What happened ?" Elijah asks.

The woman bashes a little as she rolls her eyes "Hastur did nothing in particular; spread his image here, corrupt a few wayward souls there; interspersed throughout he'd tell a cursed story and have his followers speak a forbidden oath...but hey, nobody's perfect."

"He sounds neat." Elijah says innocently.

"He _was_ neat, has this way of getting in your head, and into your heart. Oh, you should have been there, see the masses he has gathered. He even won the heart of the greatest of all." The woman says looking up.

"Who was she ?"

"How'd you know it was a she ?" The woman says, raising an eyebrow.

"Mircalla says it's always a she." Elijah shrugs.

"This Mircalla sounds like a very peculiar girl. I may have to seek her out." The woman says offhandedly "Anyways, this woman was named Inanna - although you may call her Ishtar; the supreme queen of love, justice, and Heaven."

"She sounds pretty."

"She _was_ pretty." She says with a light blush and a fling of her black hair "Among the most beautiful of the Goddesses; gave Aphrodite a run for her money, and those who challenged her paid the ultimate price." She adds with a sigh "Things...didn't work between her and her husband Dumuzid, and when Hastur heard her cry, he came to her." The woman starts to slowly beam as she continues. "He would have given her the world; specifically she wanted the Underworld, to settle an old score with her Ereshkigal."

Elijah gasps "What happened ?"

The woman waves her hand dismissively "Ah nothing...just some nonsense about Ereshkigal's hubby, Gugalana. Inanna would have blown his literal goddamn mind." She adds under her breath, before she continues with her story. "As it turns out, Inanna and Hastur had quite a lot in common; Hastur also had problems with his half brother, his name escapes me. It's part of how they bonded."

She went on to describe how the two god's fell in love, how they came together in ways she couldn't describe; they acquired an army, followers, cities to their name. Oh, they were going to spread far and wide, but they did start out small. Sure, there was the many forms of slavery that would be practiced in their religion and culture, but that was only temporary; give them a few million years, and they would be the most prosperous kingdom in this world, and others. 

Then the revolts happened; gods and heroes alike fought against them from many different worlds and cultures. And in the chaos, in the war, Hastur was struck down by a mortal "hero". Inanna knew what she must do, and was willing to do so; she started a campaign of her own...or she would have had the other god's not interfered and stripped her of her original power...

"And then what happened ?" Elijah asks.

The woman shrugs "I...don't want to talk about it."

The two stopped their discussion to see a couple of dozen of Falco's workers making their way towards the temple on the hill; Falco paid his son a passing glance, probably figuring the woman was with the party and would keep Elijah safe, occupied, and out of his hair.

"Where are they going ?" Elijah asks.

"That is a temple of protection." The woman answers nodding at the thought "It was built to keep people safe."

"How ?"

"By keeping her, locked in." The woman said with a grin.

"Can we go there ?" Elijah asks, already taking a few steps forward before the woman puts her hand on his shoulder.

"I wouldn't, little one, I can assure you. I can protect you more so than the charms and trinkets buried within that temple." The woman says, silently musing to herself that said charms and trinkets would be removed.

"Come now," she said, taking Elijah by the hand "You have so much more to tell me. Your sister, where is she now ?"

She led Elijah towards a tent she herself set up on a ridge ten acres of land away from the rest of the camp. She assured him his father wouldn't even know he's gone.

\----

"What of this ?" Falco asks, gesturing to the symbols marked on the temple's entrance, as he and his party lit their torches.

"I recall my grandmother's story describing this place as a tomb; people left family heirlooms, and idols of gold blessed by the gods here. Whomever was buried in this place, they must be someone of power and importance." Irra says looking around as he and the crew were enveloped in the darkness.

"Must not be of that much importance anymore, now that they are bones." Falco says with a chuckle.

"Lamashtu," one of the crew says.

"Gazuntite," Falco says in a dry, snarky way.

"That was the name on this tomb; the crypt of Lamashtu." The man answers.

"Is he anyone important ?" Falco asks Irra as they venture deeper and deeper into the tombs chambers.

"I recall the name," Irra says thinking it over "Don't remember who for. I was raised Christian and haven't heard the tales my grandmother told me since I was seven. You may pardon me if the details are sketchy."

"What of them ?" Falco asks gesturing towards the others "What do they know of her ?"

As if one cue, four members of this party started backing away to the tomb's entrance. They were muttering and stuttering as they did so, and Irra picked up on some of what they said.

"Noise about her being this goddess or demon." Irra says, noticing how several others follow the men who fled "They think this place is cursed."  
"It's a tomb," Falco says "Whatever is in here is probably dead."

Another man in the group speaks up to Falco and Irra.

"She is the wicked daughter of Anu. She is a murderer of children, and pregnant women."

"Well, that's fine and dandy. Surley, she won't be missing her treasure." Falco says making his way forward to a chest on the other end of the chamber.  
"If the people here gave and enchanted their riches for this tomb, it was no doubt an attempt to bind her." The man warns Falco, taking him by the arm.  
Falco rolls his eyes, and turns his attention to Irra "You do not believe these ramblings, do you ?"

"Raised Christian, remember ?" Irra says "But what I believe isn't important. What's important is morale ?"

Irra gestures to the last of the crew as they make their way out.

"Some of these people still believe the tales to be true. If they refuse to touch anything to do with Lamashtu, then there is nothing I can do to force them."

"You can't be serious!" Falco scoffs.

"Count Karnstien, consider this; we have collected enough treasure to raise poor and downgraded community to a comfortable prosperity; we have collected idols and texts that represent and can teach of Sumer's history and myths." Irra starts "Sometimes we need to know when to quit while we're ahead. I'm sure Gruber will be satisfied with what we have."

Falco grits his teeth; any other moment, he would be livid, shouting to the top of his lungs about how these people were a lazy, superstitious lot. Unfortunately he was outnumbered, and when the chips are down, they work for Gruber, not himself.

"Very well, but I shall look into the tomb myself, you can go and flee from your boogeyman." Falco scoffs.

"Your funeral, good Count." Irra shrugs as he and the last of the party took their leave.----Within minutes, Falco was alone in the tomb, with nothing but a torch to keep him company.

He wasn't stupid by any streatch through; taking his machete from his sheath, be stuck the tip into the wall, and drew a long mark across the wall as he walked through the halls. In the event his torch dies out, he could make his way to the entrance by touch alone.

Deeper and deeper he went into the tombs halls, before reaching a chamber.

No doubt this was the main chamber of the tomb, as a stone casket sat in the middle, surrounded only by small statues, no bigger than dolls a child would play with. He couldn't bother with the names of these gods and monsters the idols represented, although one in particular stood out...

It was a humanoid figure, with a pair of wings and a lion like head...and endowed to a rather comical extreme.

He picked the statue up and held it to his face.

There were dozens like that; his team picked up three of these, one made from copper in lieu of stone.

For no particular reason, aside from bitterness that he would only get a fraction from this expedition, Falco snarled and tossed the idol to a wall, whereupon it fell into four pieces.

Falco was about to turn around and make his way out from this crypt, when he hears something that catches him off guard.

The sound of a woman's muffled weeping.

In any other circumstances, Falco would decide this business is not his own, but ultimately curiosity won out over indifference.

"Who's there ?"

"Please...help me..." A meek woman's voice answers.

"Who am I helping and why should I oblige ?"

The woman's weeping continues.

"Very well," Falco turns to make his leave. "Enjoy the darkness, you'll be here for-"

"Please! My father is important to these people. I was buried here- I know not for how long! I was betrayed what had to have been days ago; if you release me now you shall be rewarded." She says.

"Rewarded. Okay, you have my attention." Falco says "What is it you offer ?"

"Release me, and name your price."

Count Falco has certainly heard worse deals. It was one such deal that got him into this mess.

Crouching down, Falco places a machete in the slit of the casket. Logically, he should have run out to get the other men to help, but Falco was more often than not a man of instinct, not logic.

What threw him off was how light the casket's lid was; he was a little shocked that this woman couldn't have broken herself out.  
But that shock gave way to a mild ease when he saw her.

Laying in a fetal position was a woman, wearing a black robe, that was almost transparent in revealing her nude form beneath it. She appeared to be somewhere in her early to mid twenties, and had long bright red hair.

She instantly turned around to reveal her pale face, and wide, giddy smile. Falco saw paler skin in the Western Asian people, but this was the shade of a cloud.  
She quickly rose from her crypt, and with her, every other torch in the temple was a bright flame. She could be seen in a better light, revealing multiple braids in her hair, as she looked to Falco with striking blue eyes.

Falco was at a loss of words, a feeling that could be best described as a mixture of awe and terror filled him, and he dropped to his knees in near reflex.

As she stood up and out of her coffin, she smiled a full set of plump, black lips and made her way towards him. She placed a finger under his chin and forced his eyes to face hers.

"Now as for that reward ?"

Falco found his voice.

"I...have a request."

\----  
As the sun began to set, Elijah Karnstien sat at a campfire, as the woman he befriended earlier (whose name he didn't get) kept telling him story after story.

After feeding on the meal of chicken and a salad she prepared for him, Elijah was in his words "Stuffed like a doll."

It was a stupid compliment from an ignorantly little child, but this woman blushed at his words. Even she has a limit at how much someone can be cute around her without her gushing slightly.

Elijah had the familiar dreary feeling of sleep slowly but surely catching up to him, as he lies down on the woman's lap.

She talked the days away with stories of Inanna; it mattered little what the subject was.

In fact, the story she was currently telling of when Inanna traveled to a far off land of Ancient Greece, happening upon the druids and witches of the time, many of whom turned to her for learning and guidance. Her favorite student was a young lad named Silas, and the source of his power and secrets came from Inanna herself; she taught them how to achieve the "gift" of the immortals; from which some of the first vampires were born. Unfortunately, Silas, his lover Amara, both screwed over a third witch who loved Silas, but Inanna wasn't around for that.

It was how Inanna herself regained her immortality. The only setback was of course becoming an undead creature that needs to feed on the blood of the living to survive.

But that was only a setback if you allowed it to be one.

She wasn't sure he was even listening to the story by the time the sun disappeared over the horizon. Nope, he was just snoozing away, dead to the world.  
She had no idea what came over her, when she picked the lad up, and placed him on a bed, and kissed him on the cheek.

There was the rare instance where she had the maternal strings of her broken heart. Sure, there were times over the centuries she could consider herself a mother figure, but she hasn't had a biological child of her own since Hastur had her carry what would one day become the Wind Walker.

Still, she looked over her shoulder as she left the tent with a warm smile... and a stare that turned cold as she felt a familiar presence behind her.  
"Lamashtu." She says.

"Ishtar." The woman from the tomb answers "I assume that little one is under your protection ?"

"He's lucky he's cute." Inanna answers stoically.

"As you can see, they have released me." Lamasthu says.

"Of that I can," Inanna nods "I would think these adventurers wouldn't have been stupid enough to disturb the bed I made for you. Once again, my faith in humanity was unfounded."

"Pity." Lamasthu says, sitting down by the fire "I assume our own deal isn't broken ? Another has come up, and seeing as you were the one who taught the people of old to bind me, I would assume you'd make an attempt to stop me."

"I already held my end. Once Hastur is free, you can have the eternal freedom you so crave." Inanna says "But don't push your luck, little devil girl; I don't need an army of worshipers to bind you again. Even so, don't assume I am not fair."

Inanna sits down so she is at eye level with the demon.

"What are the terms of your new deal ?"

"The man leading this party, Count Falco; he wants me to allow him the riches he and his men collected - the lot of it went to the families of those in the expedition. There is only one way he can get an extra share of the treasure." Lamasthu says.

"When there is no one else to share it with."

"You can read me like a book." The demoness smirks.

"Three days," Inanna says "That is all I can allow."

"Three days is all I need." Lamasthu says again, getting up and disappearing like a shadow in the night.

Inanna looked back to the tent, checking to see if little Elijah was still sleeping.

He was, and the sight of his small snoozing form is doing something to her heart that she really doesn't like.

Her attention was caught by the sound of screaming.

It was men; grown men, screaming and crying as if they were baby boys, calling out for a mother that couldn't save them.

Elijah didn't seem the least bothered by the sound of screaming, just nuzzling his head down into the soft pillow.

It was a big enough bed, and as if she were the boy's own mother, Inanna climbed in after him, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close.  
Inanna was still awake through, and her ears could pick up the sounds of towns and villages set up miles away. 

It was in these very towns, that housed the families of those on the expedition. The same people who would get a cut in the event of their father/son/brother/husband's death.

One by one, they screamed. And one by one, they were snuffed out.

Inanna felt the urge to cover her ears at the sound of babies crying, before they too were snuffed out. Now all that remained was the wailing of mothers.

This was going to be a long three days.

\----

**Casa Del Bella's, 2021**

Seven weeks into Chloe's pregnancy.

Beca Mitchell was roused from sleep, from a very familiar dream.

Of course, she couldn’t remember exactly what it was when she felt something crawl into bed. Years ago, something like this would have made Beca think a cat was trying to climb up on top of her, but you spend enough time with Bella Conrad, you know what to expect.

Waking up from her bed, feeling groggy, Beca barely paid attention to the seemingly sleeping Chloe and how Bella was already making her way into their bed. Looking at the clock, Beca can see that it is 10:15 PM.

It has been a month and few weeks since Carmilla and Laura settled in. Chloe was starting to show the smallest bump. Given Beca’s limited experience with pregnant women, she didn’t know for sure if that was normal or if the baby was growing at an unusual rate.

Or that Twilight was right in regards to vampire pregnancies, in which case...“What’s the matter, Bells ?” A groggy Beca asks, taking Bella up into her arms and laying down with the toffler on her chest “Bad dream ?”

“No dream.” Bella says “Just want snuggles.”

“Of course you do.” Beca says, sighing contently as she kisses Bella on the temple.

Their brief talk caused Chloe to stir over. She doesn’t say anything, but smiles as she wraps one of her arms over two of her favorite girls in the multiverse. This happens quite a bit when the four girls first formed their family unit. Bella would often enter their bedrooms for different reasons to get a cuddle from her four moms.

Of course it was usually Stacie, but really it depends on what mood Bella is in.

Considering Chloe’s current state, Bella really wanted to be a close as she could to the new baby.

“Momma Bec ?” Bella asks, causing Beca to mentally clutch her heart. Even after all this time, she wasn’t quite used to being considered a mom to the girl. It felt good, it really did, but the feeling was still near alien to Beca. She never considered herself being a mother when Bella was first born; sure, she and Chloe were more than happy to be aunts, things tend to happen. And as they happen, things also change.

This was Beca’s life now, and she wasn’t backing down from this for the world.

“What is it, sweetheart?” Beca asks, still in disbelief she uses “sweetheart".

"Are you scared of Carma ?” Bella says, using the word she used when she tries to say Carmilla’s name.

Beca was a little taken aback by the question.

“No, sweetie.” Beca says “I’m not.”

“When we play, you’re always looking at her.” Bella says, her voice getting Chloe up to look at her.

“It’s nothing Bella, she’s just watching you.” Chloe says “Just like me. And your other mommies.”

Bella turns towards Chloe and says “But she always has that look on her face.”

Bella tries to empathize her point by making the concerned, and cautious look she sometimes see’s on Beca whenever Carmilla plays with, holds, or sits down next to her.

"It's just..." Beca starts trying to find the right words "Mommy feelings, you know ? This is all new to me." She says hoping this three year old will understand.

"What she's saying Bella," Chloe chimes in, "It's just something that mommy's feel sometimes. She hasn't been around a lot of vampires before Carmilla."

"Mommy isn't scared of her." Bella says, referring to Stacie. She'd always have names to go with her other mothers.

"She' just the bravest of us." Beca shrugs "In general, not a lot of things scare her.

"Bella pauses and smiles to herself when an idea pops in her head. The two women notice her smile before they smile themselves as they ask.

"Bella, what are you thinking about ?"

Bella giggles and puts her finger to her lips in a shushing motion, as she nuzzles her head down to Beca's neck.

The three were about to go back to sleep before Bella asks "Momma Chloe ? Do you feel kicks ?"Chloe nearly laughs at how casual Bella's question was.

"No," Chloe shakes her head "Not yet ? The baby isn't growing it's legs yet."

"Is it growing it's teeth ?" Bella says, opening her mouth and lining her finger up and down her teeth.

"Uh, I don't know ?" Chloe says, but the inflection in her voice makes it sound like she's asking a question.

Bella crawls off of Beca and down to Chloe resting her head on the redhead's slightly round stomach."Wh-what are you doing ?" Chloe says.

"Listening to it grow." Bella answers plainly "Does it have a heart yet ?"

Chloe and Beca both beam at this.

"Yes, it's heart already grew in." Chloe nods.

"I can hear it beating!" Bella says excitedly.

The two women blush as they look to each other.

Beca wraps one of her arms and legs up and around Chloe, nuzzling into the redhead's neck, while Bella nuzzles into her stomach, whispering barely audible words to the baby. The three of them soon went right back to sleep.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, Bella's dream wasn't a happy one.

In Bella's dreams, a woman stood at the foot of her bed - she was pretty, but there was something about her that scared Bella. She has a black, but pretty transparent, shroud and robe, revealing her silhouetted form.

Bella says nothing, as she is unable to say anything as the woman lifts the shroud to reveal a pale white face, with bright red hair and equally bright blue eyes.

Bella shakes and quivered, instinctively clutching her little arms around Chloe's waist for protection.

The woman gives an unsettling smile towards Bella, as she reaches forward, and places one of her hands on Bella's back.

"Will you protect the child, little one ?" She said with a Middle Eastern accent.

Bella shakes and buries her face into Chloe's stomach, hoping she would go away.

"You are but a baby yourself, little one. But I will humor you." The woman climbs onto the bed, Beca and Chloe both seemingly oblivious to her presence "I will be watching you. I will always be around the corner; me and my...friends. I will let air fill this child's lungs before I snuff it out."

"You're not real." Bella manages to whimper out "You are a bad dream."

The woman slinks off the bed, looking between Beca and Chloe "If you say so, but you know what they say about dreams ?" She says as they lean down to Bella's ear "If you believe hard enough, they come true."

\----

The next morning, Bella was in a uncharacteristically downer mood. When asked what was wrong Bella said nothing.

Before anyone made anything about it, Bella's mood was back to square one when Laura was on pancake duty. Laura was entertaining the other four girls with this story of these tapes she and Carmilla found in Silas' basement.

"Seriously, looking back, I'm pretty sure the whole thing was an elaborate tampon commercial." Laura says.

"Mother always did have this for corporate sponsors. When she considered making an American Campus, she wanted Fox news to be her sponsor for the grand reveal for Hastur." Carmilla says.

"What happened then ?" Chloe asks.

"Ah, she found them too pricey and demanding. Besides, they were on this other Elder god's playlist; would have been more trouble than it's worth." Carmilla waves her hand dismissively "I personally think she should stick to Youtube sponsors."

With a fresh stack of pancakes prepared by Laura, Stacie couldn't help but feel jealous at how decorative Hollis got with preparing them. She would always make them with faces, using syrup, whip cream, and chocolate chips.

All of these had Bella's mouth watering.

They went over breakfast as usual, talking about general things. What Carmilla and Laura did "between seasons", what they plan to do when restrictions are significantly lifted, life before Chloe decided she wanted to give pregnancy a try.

Of course, there was some subjects that could be saved for another day; such as the exact story of how the five girls became this family unit.

The plans for a baby shower would have to wait; international travel wasn't advisable at this point yet, and Danny was still leading the rest of team Silas on a job overseas, for a reason neither Carmilla or Laura are really able to talk about.

"Uh oh," Aubrey says playfully "Looks like someone made a mess!" as she picked up a napkin to wipe off Bella's face.

The aforementioned toddler, made a mess of her face by licking the cream off her pancake pieces, and licking the syrup off it's plate. Some of it even got it to her hair.

"Bella!" Stacie scolds "What did I tell you about table manners ?"

Bella shrugs and answers "Don't act at the table like you wouldn't in a resturant."

"Look at you hair," Stacie scoffs, taking the syrup drenched locks of Bella's hair. Bella slumps her head down in shame, almost looking like she's about to cry. Stacie rolls her eyes as she felt her heart tug, taking her daughter by the chin with one of her fingers, and gently making Bella face her "Hey, we don't do that at the table. I don't want you making a mess like before the day even starts."

"Sorry mommy." Bella says in a whimpering, mumbling tone.

Stacie crouches down and gives Bella a reassuring hug "It's alright, where's just going to have to give you a bath is all."

"Come on, sweetheart." Aubrey says, picking Bella up "Let's get this mess of yours cleaned up."

"My hair is like mommies." Bella says, playing with her sticky locks.

"What ?" Laura asks taken a little aback as Carmilla leans back, drink in hand.

"One night, when I was getting out of the bathroom I saw Mommy and Momma Beca getting out of the shower, and they had sticky in their hair." Bella says, lifting her own hair up to emphasize her point "Momma Chloe didn't want me to see, but they had sticky on their face too."

As soon as Carmilla hears this, she spits her drink out in a laughing fit, as both the other four girls face pale or blush in embarrassment. The vampire nearly drops from her seat, trying to catch her breath as she she curled into a ball, trying and failing to stifle her laughter."And that's why you knock before going to the bathroom Bella," Stacie says trying to brush the subject aside.

"Mommy, what where you eating ?" Bella ask, digging the already uncomfortable situation even deeper.

"Nothing Bells, nothing at all." Beca says also trying to maintain control of the situation.

"Come on," Aubrey says, carrying Bella out of her room "Let's get you cleaned and changed.

"As Carmilla composes herself, she wipes a tear from her eye and climbs back into her seat.

"Okay, with that out of the way." Carmilla says, catching her breath "Laura, I think the kid likes your cooking."

Laura shrugs and smiles "I just hope the baby will too. Kirsch used to show me how to work with little kids."

"I think the kid already does," Chloe says, patting her stomach "Been a while since I had something that agreed with me like this. Y'know, that wasn't meaty."

Laura moves towards Chloe, putting her own hand on Chloe's stomach "I can already tell he's going to be a happy little guy."

"Guy ?" Carmilla adds.

"A mom knows." Laura says with a shrug "You should know this stuff by now."

Carmilla gets from her seat, to Chloe's side, looking at the latter's stomach, before casually putting her hand on it. Almost instantly, Carmilla flinches her hand back.

"What's wrong ?" Chloe asks.

"I felt it's heart beating." Carmilla says, her voice taking an uneasy infliction.

"What ?"

"Vampire sense," Carmilla says "I can feel it's...heart through your body."

The other four girls didn't know what to say, but Laura beams as she leans her head down on Chloe's stomach.

"Can you hear it too ?" Laura asks.

"I...don't know-" Carmilla says, as she too lies her head on Chloe, pausing when she could in fact hear the sound of little beats. Carmilla's voice takes a mutedly high pitch, and her eyes start to water as she mouths out "Oh my God..." 

There is a pause in the room as the vampire seems to drift into a whole other world.

There was hardly a dry eye in the room, as Carmilla was suddenly beside herself, muttering semi coherent words along the lines of "Mommy's here, mommy's right here."

A few moments of this pass, before Laura speaks "I think he likes us already."

\----

Later in the day, Laura, Chloe and Aubrey went for a drive; not exactly shopping unless you count just picking up groceress. They were also to check out the neighborhoods, and see where to go. Bella and Stacie stayed behind for this trip, as restrictions where not lifted in certain stores yet, and if Bella saw a store she liked, she would want to go shopping.

Besides Bailey Downs itself, they where also going to check out this neighboring town called Whitechapel. It also had a supernatural history to it, being to vampires to what Bailey Downs is to werewolves. Supposedly there's some obscured history between the two, but it was only recently that vampires became public. In any case, Laura thought it might be worth visiting.

In the meantime, Carmilla had to stay behind as there was something Bella wanted to show her, and Beca of course had to stay behind because she also got Bella's invite.

Bella was in her room all morning preparing something, and had Stacie help her set something up.

When Beca and Carmilla made their way to the bedroom, Stacie opens wearing a black outfit; Beca has seen the expression on Stacie's face enough times to know that she was playing a role.

"Good evening," Stacie says with an accented voice "We have been expecting you."

"It's 11:55 AM and Bella told us to come here." Carmilla says, deadpan.

"Yes, our lady Bella has requested your presence this lunch hour. It's best to not keep her waiting." Stacie says, ushering them in.

Letting them in the room, the other girls where taken a little aback at how the place was decorated; blue and red blankets lay across the window, causing a bit of a transparent glow from the sunlight. A black picnic blanket of sorts was laid across the floor, as a Victorian style tea set was set up. Her easy bake oven was set to the side, having been used to make a small batch of cupcakes, and a plate of dough gods (made by Stacie), and a dish of peanut butter crackers.

In the middle of the room to greet them was little Bella Conrad, dressed in black, princess like costume, that brought to mind something like Lily Munster or Morticia Addams.

"We are pleased to see you." Bella says in attempt to mimic the manners of a gracious host, but her high pitched little voice made it hard to take seriously, which got all three older women beaming at her.

"Belles," Beca starts "What is this ?"

"Vampire tea party." Bella says, putting her hands behind her back in a way that implies she's trying to be cute on purpose.

Carmilla blushes at the sight and is the first to take a seat, next to Bella, which prompts Beca to sit closer to her daughter, in an instinctive, protective manner.

"Bella's been working on this all day today." Stacie says sounding a little proud of her daughter.

"Mommy wouldn't show me how to use the stove." Bella says, looking down.

"Well, you're still too little for that." Carmilla says, playfully stroking Bella's hair.

"I'm not little, I'm a big girl." Bella said, crossing her arms in an annoyed tone.

"But you're still growing." Beca says, instinctively kissing Bella on the cheek "So what got you to set this up, Belles ?"

"You, momma Beca." Bella says, pointing up at Beca, "So you won't be scared of Carmalla." She says mispronouncing Carmilla's name.

There was a pause in the room as Carmilla's face dropped when she heard this. She glances at Beca who looks embarrassed and a little taken aback.

"I'm not, scared." Beca says, calmly but defensively "It's just...new is all."

"Hmm," Carmilla says "Still not used to vampires I see ? After how many weeks now ?"

"Seven," Beca says, scratching the back of her neck and remembering that time in high school "But being a new mom." She looks back down at Bella "It does things to me."

Stacie nods in understanding before speaking up "You should have seen her when Bella got a fever. I thought Beca here was going to work herself into a panic attack."

Carmilla nods before smirking at Beca "Then I see you're a great mom already. I really hope I can be the same...it's new to me too." She finishes with a frown.

Beca looks at Carmilla with an understanding expression "I mean, we seen your track record. It's like going into a new world, especially what happened with Bella's-"

Stacie glances at Beca with a raised eyebrow, and uncharacteristically stern expression.

"Sorry." Beca says.

"Anyways, let's get to lunch." Stacie says, setting the dishes and the tea set "What's to drink, Lady Bella ?"

"Juice and soda." Bella says, like the toddler she is.

"Pretend blood." Stacie whispers to the other two women, before realizing what she just said in front of an actual vampire "Oh I mean-"

Carmilla smiles sweetly and shrugs.

"It's okay, the recent panther sightings should tell you all that I've been good and fed in that department.

"The three women, and the little lady spent the next hour or so sharing drinks and tasty treats; Carmilla didn't feel the need to share her already familiar story, so Beca and Stacie took turns going over their Barden days.

Carmilla in the meantime, having attended quite a few banquets in her day, took the time to teach Bella how to eat and drink like a proper lady, and instill a bit of proper, tea party etiquette into the toddler....all for not as Bella's face ended up covered up with icing from the treats.

Even so, it was eventually Carmilla's turn when Bella asks.

"Do you have any stories ? Vampire stories ?"

"I don't know which ones to tell ya, Bell-ster." Carmilla adds with a playful poke on Bella's nose.

"What about, where vampires come from ?" Stacie asks.

Carmilla takes a bite from the last of her dough god before answering "Mmm, bit of a tall order there." She says, licking the icing off her lips and fingers "Mythologies complicated."

"I'm sure you can humor us." Beca shrugs.

Carmilla takes a moment to think before she starts "Well, the short of it is the vampire curse existed at least as far back as far as when the world was young. The curse as we know it today, is a recent edition, created by my mother, and even then that was the BC era. The very first werewolves and vampires were _vastly_ different from the ones we have today."

"Can you give us the short of it ?" Beca asks.

Carmilla sighs before continuing.

"There really isn't a short of it. The original, _human_ vampires, so speak can be traced back to a duo of witches that can be traced to Ancient Greece. The curse they created was a product of my mother's attempt to regain immortality; the man's name was Silas, and he was one of my mother's favorite protege's, so much so that she named her campus after him. He and his lover, create the strain of vampires from which I come from."

"Wow." Bella says, simply, and cutely, although it's up in the air if the young girl can actually understand what Carmilla's talking about.

"Then you got the other kind of vampires, who can all be traced back to a family of Nordics. Whether or not you believe them to be the true original vampires, I know they existed as I met them in my early days as a vampire." Carmilla finishes "Their history is a little more complicated...but I'm pretty sure they're still around today."

"So," Stacie starts "Do you know what else is out there ? You know, myth wise ?"

Carmilla whistles a bit before answer "From my experience, there is a little bit of everything. I know Sumerian myths were based in part on reality; according to the Silas library, there is also evidence of the Greek, Norse, Celtic and Egyptian god's, but the history there is complicated. I also know that Hastur at least existed, so Lovecraft and his writers may have been onto something; hell, the library also hinted that Tolkien was onto something. Right about now, I'd say the rabbit hole goes a little to deep for me to travel." 

"What about Twilight ?" Bella asks. Still, it's unclear if she can actually understand what Carmilla is saying, or just wants to hear a Twilight type story.

"I don't know about that one." Carmilla shakes her head "But it looks like you need some cleaning up to do." She says, playfully wiping a bit of icining off Bella's cheek. "Looks like we all need cleaning up." Beca nods, looking at the finished dishes before them.

"Look mommy," Bella says, lifting her hair "No sticky in my hair!"

Stacie smiles "Yeah, but you still got a face to clean off."

"I got this." Beca says, lifting Bella up and taking her towards the bathroom "You two can handle the dishes."

Carmilla and Stacie glance at each other, before resigning themselves for dish duty.

As Carmilla was stacking the plates, Stacie was handling the tea set."So...is sticky what I-" Carmilla starts to ask when she's sure Bella is out of earshot.  
Stacie sighs as she picks the tea set up, and she and the vampire make their way to the stairs.

"I know what you're thinking and yes," Stacie says "The four of us - Beca, Chloe, Aubrey and I - we have orgies sometimes." Stacie answers plainly.

Carmilla smirks and takes a breath trying to stiffle the laughter "Well, I kinda figured that from your unit and all.

"Stacie nods, reaching the kitchen and tending to the sink "Sometimes it's all four of us, but it's mostly three or two. The other one or two of us have to keep an eye on Bella. Once she walked into the bathroom without knoc-"

"I figured that." Carmilla nods, setting her dishes aside, and continue their conversation as they go through them "So the sticky was-?"

"Yes." Stacie says with an embarrassed seethe, before regaining her composure "So what about you ?"

"What about me ?" Carmilla asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Have you ever ?" Stacie makes a nudging gesture with her head, glancing to the side a bit, hoping Carmilla catches on.

Carmilla's eyes widen as she does just that "Oh uh, yeah, but, uh, not with Laura. I think it'd be a little much for her."

"I mean, if we are being personal here." Stacie says "Do you remember who ?"

Carmilla shrugs "It was so long, and during one of my vacation days. I think late 90's to early 2000's; I remember it was two witches and two slayers, but I don't want to name names."

Carmilla shakes her head.

"For the sake of changing an uncomfortable subject, I couldn't help but notice you never really talk about how the four of you...ended up like this." Carmilla says, crossing her arms "What's the story there ?"

Stacie finishes the last of the dishes and begins putting them away. As she does so, Stacie's expression takes an uncharacteristically grim and somber tone.

"I thought you wanted to avoid an uncomfortable subject." Stacie says.

"I just figured, you guys haven't talked about-" Carmilla starts before Stacie interrupts.

"It involves Bella's father, and I'm not ready to talk about it in front of her." She says before sighing "Look, her father was a bad man. I'm pretty sure you've seen monsters, right both human and no ? Well, it was true that he was cheating on his girlfriend, but that is small potatoes compared to the other stuff he did."

  
Carmilla has a look of realization on her face before she cautiously steps forward and hugs Stacie. Stacie didn't know how to respond to this at first, before she hugged back.

"I'm sorry," Carmilla whispers "I didn't know-"

"Oh no," Stacie shakes her head "I wasn't ra-...you know. At least not in my mind." It doesn't stop her from wiping a tear "I didn't know at the time, but after I found out, I made a decision; Bella will never be his. She is mine, she is Aubrey's, she is Beca's and she is Chloe's. If Bella is ever going to find out the truth, it won't be for years." When Stacie breaks away from Carmilla's hug, she takes a few second to compose herself.

"It doesn't matter how me and the girls got to this point. What matters is we are here now. And I am thankful, every day for that." Stacie says "I'm not sure if I really want to talk about it, even to you. But y'know, you can read up on what happened in Darlington, and Lakewood, and you should have a good idea of what happened."

Before the conversation goes on any further, Beca makes her way into the kitchen, with Bella Conrad in her arms, her face freshly cleaned.

"Look who's ready for movie time!" Beca announces in a playful voice.

Like a light switch, Stacie's slightly more somber mood changes to that playful, motherly one she's been proudly displaying not an hour ago.

"Alright Bells, what's todays movie ?" Stacie says, picking her daughter up from Beca's arms.

"Uh, can we watch two ?" Bella asks.

Stacie shrugs "I don't see why not. What do you have in mind ?"

\----

The three women and the toddler spent the better part of the afternoon watching _The Incredibles_. Midway through the movie, the other three ladies of the house shown up from their sight seeing tour of Bailey Downs and it's neighboring towns.

They joined the homebodies for the rest of the movie before putting on _The Incredibles 2_ at Bella, Laura, and Chloe's insistence, with Carmilla being the deciding vote.

After dinner, Laura spent the evening showing Bella pictures of places they are planning to visit, mainly malls, movie theatres and a clothing store that hasn't been registered to any other mall. Needless to say, Bella couldn't wait until restrictions were lifted.

When night blanketed the Bailey Downs area, a black panther was on the prowl. It had done her usual hunting routine; go into the thick parts of the forested areas; seek out animals as a predator does. Usually, she'd take out a deer ( _"Sorry Bambi."_ she'd often think to herself) or a moose. In a rare instance, she even took on a bear or two.

As for the "wolves" that would prowl at night ? Well, let's just say she has an understanding with them.  
After another successful hunting trip, the panther bounds over the outer wall of Casa del Bella's.

Casually making her way to the walls of the estate, she shifted into her human, albeit nude, form and climbed her way to her and Laura's bedroom window.  
Crawling inside, neither Carmilla or Laura were fazed or shy of the formers's nakedness. This is something of a bi-weekly trend with Carmilla.

"Good hunting, my love ?" Laura asks, not even taking her eyes from her phone. She was told what Carmilla was told hours ago by Stacie, and looking into what happened in those two towns she mentioned.

"As usual." Carmilla nods, making her way to their bedrooms bathroom. She was still covered in dirt and a bit of blood from her hunting trip "Two bull moose tonight. Too busy crashing their heads together, they didn't see me coming. Didn't stand a chance."

"Hmmm." Laura says, setting the phone aside "You think the baby will be like that ? Shape shifting I mean."

"Hmm ? Oh, I never really thought of that. Why ?" Carmilla asks, walking out the bathroom to sit on their bed.

"It's just, you hear how damphirs; in most stories they have their vampire parents powers, and none of their weaknesses." Laura says "You think that our baby is going to be able to do half of what you do.

"Carmilla nods while thinking about it "Maybe. If he or she has to drink blood, that'd be a given. But to shape shift ? Keep in mind, it took me a while to master that. Most vampires of our kind don't even develop the extra powers until like fifty years of practice. And even then it's not like they learn how to use them."

"Ah, so our baby wouldn't turn into a kitten." Laura looks down, almost looking disappointed at the thought.

"Unlikely." Carmilla answer patting Laura on the head.

Not caring that there was still a bit of blood and dirt on her lover's finger nails, Laura takes Carmila's hand into hers, looking up and down her body suggestively.

"There is a part of me that's scared, you know." Carmilla says "If the kid turns out like me, in my...early days. You know, the whole dark, murderous, had an unlife of misery."

Laura pulls Carmilla into a hug, resting her own head on the vampire's shoulder "That's not you okay. That's not who you really are."

"I am not proud of the things I did as Mircalla, even if I left her behind for centuries." Carmilla shakes her head "I don't want our child to be a repeat of that old life."

"Your past won't define his future." Laura says, rubbing her hand up and down Carmilla's bare back "It won't be Mircalla who rears him, it will be you, Carmilla. The worst I can see happening is another generation of that heroic vampire crap." She finishes with a giggle.

"Knowing you, that's a given." Carmilla says with mirthful smirk of her own.

The two share a laugh, and with nothing else to say, they kiss.

When the part, their foreheads still press together, and Laura has to lick her dry lips, smacking a couple of times when she has the slight taste of blood from Carmilla's mouth; something she is all to used too.

Looking up and down Carmilla's still nude form, Laura manages to mutter "Do you...want to..?"

Carmilla lightly scoffs "Can't you see I need a shower ?"

"Okay," Laura says, getting up and taking Carmilla by the hand "We can do it together. As a couple."

Carmilla rolls her eyes and smiles as she follows Laura's lead.

\----

Moment's later, Laura is letting out barely audible gasps as Carmilla's nude body presses her own to the shower wall, just under the spray. The two have the filth of the day washed off of themselves, now covered in suds from the body wash and shampoo.

Carmilla let's out muffled moans, as she hold Laura up under the shower facet. Her mouth was on the crook of Laura's neck, kissing up and down said body part; she knew how Laura loved it when her teeth teased her jugular.

Their bodies where slamming and rubbing up and down eachother, as if they where trying to produce a spark between their cores. Whenever their centers don't touch in these motions, they brought their hands down between their legs to play with eachother.

Laura pulls her head away from Carmilla, kissing her way down the vampires face and neck, putting her focus on her breasts. Licking and kissing Carmilla's nipples, Laura felt herself getting weaker and weaker in the knees, until her feet slip out from under her.

Carmilla wouldn't let her lover fall, lifting her up and pressing her deeply, continuing their previous pattern of rubbing and rolling into each other. On instinct, Laura wraps her legs around Carmilla's torso, holding onto dear life as she takes hold of the shower fawcet.

Now it was Carmilla's turn to play with Laura's breasts, and she did so with such ticklish and aggressive skill, Laura releases the fawcet and wraps her arms around Carmilla's neck. Laura was a willing victim, trapped to let Carmilla do to her what she saw fit. Laura was trying and failing to tell Carmilla how much she loved her, but was unable to get a coherent word out with the supernatural speed Carmilla was applying to her.

She's pretty sure Carmilla get's the message.

Carmilla sped up; practically a blur at this point. Laura knew what this meant, having done this enough times with the vampire to know Carmilla was to release at a moment's notice, and as usual Laura wasn't far behind.

"AH-H-H!!" They both let out, just under the volume of the shower spray so as to not awake anyone who was sleeping at the moment.

The spark between them, came as they did, and like the shower ridding themselves of suds, a body shaking orgasm washed over them. They collapse into each other in a heap, barley able to stand.

"That was...how long where we holding that in ?" Laura says between deep breaths.

"Eight. Days." Carmilla said between shaky breathes of her own.

The two took a moment to catch their breaths and compose themselves. Afterwards, they got out of the shower, and into the fresh pair of clothes they picked out. They knew that this session alone would wear them out and had no interest in having another round for the rest of the night.

"You know," Carmilla says, pulling her shirt on, and pajama bottoms up "Stacie and I have been talking earlier about how she and the other-" she starts before she stops herself.

"About what ?" Laura asks, having finished redressing herself.

"Nothing." Carmilla shakes her head as she dries off her hair "You're uninitiated for something like that, and it would be a little much for you at once.

"Laura glances at Carmilla, having dried off her own head with a towel, but decides not to press the issue...yet.

The two stepped out their bathroom to hear a knocking on the bedroom door. Quickly glancing at the clock they see it is 11:20 PM.

The knocking is light and small, so it could only be one person.

Opening the door, they say Bella wearing her pajamas, holding a small blanket to herself.

"Bella ? Wh-what's the matter sweetie ?" Laura says crouching down to the toddler at eye level.

"Bad dream." Bella says "Can I sleep in your bed ?"

The two expectant mothers glance at each other, but Laura ultimately nods.

"Of course, honey." Laura says picking Bella up and walking to their bed. Tucking the girl in so that she'd sleeping between them.

They thought it was a little off that Bella would come to them as opposed to one of her moms' bedrooms. But as expectant mothers, they supposed they could expect nights like these in the foreseeable future. And practice does make perfect; that's the reason they are staying here.

Her instincts already kicking in, Laura asks "What was your dream about sweetie ?"

"Scary woman following me around the house. She was dressed in black." Bella says "She wouldn't follow me here."

"What did she look like ?" Carmilla asks.

"Blue eyes. White skin. Red hair. Smoke was following her" Bella says.

Carmilla took this description in; this ruled out Mattie - she for all of Mattie's faults, she loved kids. Whenever Mattie was alone or thought she was alone with a baby, she would get all cutesy and cuddly with the kid - baby talk, raspberries, tickles, you name it (of course, whenever she was caught she would _vehemently_ deny everything).

Plus even if this was Mattie, that would be bad news. A visit from her spectral sister was a bad omen; that was a condition of when she would visit. It would either mean they are in for some shit, or knee deep in the shit.

"Did she say anything to you ?" Carmilla say.

Bella shakes her head, but the upset look on her face indicated she didn't want to talk about it, as opposed to this woman not saying anything to her.

"Okay, well she won't be getting you here. Or anywhere." Carmilla says, taken a little off guard when Bella hugs her. Didn't stop Carmilla from gently returning the hug.

Laura places a hand on Bella's shoulder "Do you want to me to get you something ?"

Bella takes a minute before she asks.

"Can you tell me a story ?"

Laura smiles softly before answering.

"I mean, I have a lot of stories." Laura shrugs "I don't know where to start."

"I might have one." Carmilla says, as she and Laura settle into the bed, with Bella safely snug between them.

Carmilla takes a breath to ready herself. Something in the back of her head is acting up. Like something from her Mircalla days, before everything went wrong. Back when Elijah was still around.

"This will be a long one, so I won't blame you if you go to sleep through this." Carmilla says before she starts "There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made. And he spoke to them, propounding to them themes of music; and they sang before him, and he was glad..."

Already, Bella was snuggling her head to Laura, who wraps her arms around the toddler's little form.

**Author's Note:**

> So here we go with the first chapter.
> 
> Next chapter we should see whats going on with other characters, including my Bella's Squared family, Kirsch, Danny, LaFontaine and Perry. Hope to get to it soon!
> 
> Also to note: The lyrics featured towards the end of the chapter are "Instruments of Destruction" by NRG. I will be featuring song lyrics here and there to go with "Pitch Perfect" being a musical.


End file.
